A Descriptive Analysis of the Musical Elements and The
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music Music, School of 11-2020 “THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MUSICAL ELEMENTS AND THE BLACK CHURCH CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK’S I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES: A CANTATA FOR TENOR, CHOIR, AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Alfonzo Cooper Jr University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/musicstudent Part of the Music Commons Cooper Jr, Alfonzo, "“THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MUSICAL ELEMENTS AND THE BLACK CHURCH CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK’S I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES: A CANTATA FOR TENOR, CHOIR, AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA" (2020). Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music. 150. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/musicstudent/150 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Music, School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Research, Creative Activity, and Performance - School of Music by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. “THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MUSICAL ELEMENTS AND THE BLACK CHURCH CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK’S I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES: A CANTATA FOR TENOR, CHOIR, AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA by Alfonzo Cooper, Jr. A DOCTORAL DOCUMENT Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts Major: Music (Vocal Performance) Under the Supervision of Professor William Shomos Lincoln, Nebraska November, 2020 “THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MUSICAL ELEMENTS AND THE BLACK CHURCH CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN ADOLOPHUS HAILSTORK’S I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES: A CANTATA FOR TENOR, CHOIR, AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Alfonzo Cooper, Jr., D.M.A. University of Nebraska, 2020 Advisor: William Shomos This document analyzes Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, featuring text from Psalms 121, 13, and 23. The author contends that Hailstork uses cultural musical elements of the Black Church throughout the entire composition. Beginning with a brief biography of the composer, the author then provides a movement-by-movement examination of salient musical features and Black Church cultural traditions Hailstork employs to highlight the text of his selected psalms. iii DEDICATION The entirety of this document is dedicated to my father, Alfonzo Cooper, Sr. I hope that my journey and choices in life have made you proud. I love you and I always will. Junior iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. Adolphus Hailstork for his knowledge, wisdom, support, and insight. Dr. Hailstork’s music is wonderful, and he is an equally generous person. My Doctoral Committee including: Donna Harler-Smith, Dr. Alan Mattingly, and Dr. John Kalu Osiri for their individual assistance and encouragement throughout my graduate school experience. I have enjoyed getting to know them and share their knowledge in all things. Dr. Leroy Bynum, Jr., Dean of the College of Music at Portland State University and my undergraduate voice teacher at Albany State University has offered much encouragement to pursue graduate and doctoral studies. I have enjoyed the many talks about opera and life and how they are related. Thank you to Dr. Shawn Puller for encouraging me to find joy “in the table work.” My utmost gratitude goes to Dr. William “Bill” Shomos, chairman of my committee, my major professor, voice teacher, and advisor. His confidence shown and guidance through the process of completing the program of study for the masters and doctoral degree, as well as this document has been most assuring and helpful. Thank you for reminding me to not let the “worksheets win.” A special thank you goes to a host of friends, family, and fraternity brothers (Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity) whose confidence, dedication, encouragement, and support helped to make this pursuit a reality, with special attention to Rev. Evelyn Johnson-Ellis, Dr. and Mrs. Marcus and Jessica Simmons, Dr. Scott Rieker, Tanner Pfeiffer, Dr. Carlos B. Brown, Jason and Charlotte Duncan-Wagner, and the late Rev. Dr. Michael W. Combs. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: Brief Biography of Adolphus Hailstork ........................................................3 Chapter Two: Movement 1-I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes ........................................................5 Chapter Three: Movement 2-How Long? ..........................................................................27 Chapter Four: Movement 3-The Lord is My Shepherd, Alleluia ......................................52 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................79 Works Consulted ................................................................................................................81 Appendix ............................................................................................................................84 1 INTRODUCTION The title of this document is “This is How We Do It”. The title suggests––as it pertains to this document–– that in the Black Church musical community, many things are done differently than other church cultures. This document will provide cultural explanation as it pertains to the music experienced by a person who has primarily attended church in the African American church community. In I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, Adolphus Hailstork writes music that has been influenced by and pays homage to the musical and cultural traditions of the African American church. Adolphus Hailstork is a living composer and scholar whose musical contributions include choral music, art song, opera, and instrumental genres. I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes is of interest to me because I find that the salient musical features pay homage to an ancestry and lineage of tradition and culture from the Black Church music community. My analysis will examine how the music and text of Psalms 121, 13, and 23 work together. This study will break new ground by virtue of it being the first doctoral document concerning this work. My analysis of this sacred cantata, especially where I will give examples of stylistic influences from the music of the Black Church provide a genuine cultural perspective for those who wish to study and perform this work. The interpretation of this work and its music is solely this author’s, unless otherwise cited. The research methodology will lie primarily on a special focus of the musical elements derived from the African American church culture and how it has influenced the compositional makeup of this work. I will examine Hailstork’s musical treatment, 2 considering how the composer’s compositional devices relate to the text and its influence from Black Church culture. This will be done by analyzing gestures and noted stylistic choices in the orchestra, vocal parts of both choir and tenor soloist. I will not attempt a full harmonic nor theoretical analysis of this piece but will reference harmonies and theoretical concepts when appropriate in my thesis. I will include pertinent correspondence from Adolphus Hailstork and music examples in support of the analysis. In Chapter One I will present a brief biography of Adolphus Hailstork, outlining his life, compositions, musical styles and influences that shaped the composer. Chapters Two, Three, and Four will each provide a two-part discussion and analysis of Hailstork’s use of text, music, and Black Church cultural elements. The conclusion will summarize and reflect upon the findings of my analysis. 3 CHAPTER ONE: BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK Dr. Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork, III was born on April 17, 1941 in Rochester, New York. As a child he played violin, piano, and organ. Hailstork’s musical talents were noticed by his high school orchestra director, and he was encouraged to compose music.1 He received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition from Howard University, a historically black college in Washington D.C., in 1963. Hailstork earned a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York in 1966. Hailstork completed his Ph.D. in Theory and Composition from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, in 1971.2 Hailstork’s primary teachers include H. Owen Reed, Vittorio Giannini, David Diamond, Nadia Boulanger, and Mark Fax.3 Hailstork taught on the music faculties at Michigan State University, Youngstown (Ohio) State University, and Norfolk State University. He currently serves on the music faculty at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Dr. Hailstork resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia where he continues to live, teach, and compose. In his spare time, he does his best to enjoy his life and attend concerts.4 Hailstork is an eclectic composer, and his compositional output consists of a number of different types of genres. Hailstork has made the effort to avoid being “pigeonholed” as a composer, which makes his musical style somewhat of a challenge to pinpoint. Though his choral and band pieces are probably his best-known works, he has 1 https://guides.lib.fsu.edu/c.php?g=353115&p=2383525 2 Doris