Ravinia_2018_Issue_4_Week

ALICE

PAR.ER

(b. 1924) RO%ERT SHA: (1916–99), arrs.

“I Want to Die Easy”

From the

Ainsworth Psalter

one of the earliest songbooks to ap-

pear in the American colonies, on

through the collection of

Southern

Harmony

from the

s and into

the vast collection of hymnals of

every color, stripe, and denomi-

nation available today, one can see

that Americans of every race and

creed have never been ashamed to

express their a rmation of deep

faith through the medium of song.

Conductor Robert Shaw’s and Alice

Parker’s countless arrangements of

folk songs, spirituals, and hymns—

in every language and style—re-

main popular with choruses today

not only because of their immedi-

acy and appeal but also due to the

singability, the simple sophistica-

tion of the harmonies and counter-

point, the desire to communicate to

“scholar and civilian” alike. Written

for a tenor soloist with accompany-

ing chorus, “I Want to Die Easy” is

exempli ed by a slow, relaxed tem-

po, “easy” swung triplets in the re-

peated interjections of the chorus,

and a slow build-up to a corporate

cry for salvation near its end. is is

clearly the song of a slave who has toiled in the elds and is ready to cross

over into the next world.

I want to die easy when I die

Shout salvation as I y

I want to die easy when I die.

I want to see my Jesus when I die

Shout salvation as I y

I want to see my Jesus when I die.

I want to go to heaven when I die

Shout salvation as I y

I want go to heaven when I die.

JAMES WOODIE ALEXANDER JESSE

:HITA.ER

“Straight Street”

(arranged by Joseph Jennings)

Several pieces stand out as quint-

essential “Chanticleer” songs from

its

-year history: Franz Biebl’s

Ave Maria

is on almost everyone’s

list, with “Dúlamán” and “Straight

Street” coming in very close to the

top. Introduced to the ensemble by

Joseph Jennings in the

s, at a

time when Chanticleer was begin-

ning to incorporate di erent genres

of music into its repertory, “Straight

Street” was originally the creation of

J.W. Alexander and Jesse Whitaker,

two members of the classic gospel

ensemble the Pilgrim Travelers.

Dubbed “gospel’s rst showmen,” the Pilgrim Travelers were formed in

Houston in the late

s, one of several traveling gospel ensembles in the

United States, but their immensely popular percussive foot tapping (which

ended up being miked) and solid lead vocals set them apart as one of the