Here at UUFR, it is not unusual for us to sing texts written by Black authors, or to sing music created by Black composers. Though this music feeds our spirits all through the year, Black History Month seems a good time to highlight some of these creators and their works. The choral piece you’ll hear Sunday morning February 8th “United in Purpose” has text by Maya Angelou and music by Rollo Dilworth.
My first exposure to Maya Angelou’s work was her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” This autobiography of her early life is powerful; reading it as a teenager left a lasting impression. The text used for “United in Purpose” is from her book Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou.
The onus is upon us all to work to
improve the human condition.
Perform good deeds, for that is truly
the way to battle the forces of entropy
that are at work in our world.
The composite of all our efforts can
have an effect. Good done anywhere
is good done everywhere.
When we unite in purpose,
we are greater than the sum of our parts.
You may notice that this text is not the type usually set to music. Choirs don’t often get to sing words like “onus,” “entropy,” or “composite.” While setting words to music gives it more emotional power, it does make it harder to understand the words. Fortunately, the composer Rollo Dilworth makes music choices that make it easier for listeners to understand the words. Repetition helps a lot – you will hear the first two lines and the last two lines several times. You may also notice that while the voice parts are singing in harmony, they are almost always singing the same rhythm. So we are hearing everyone singing the same words at the same time. He also sets the words to rhythms that follow the natural rhythms and emphasis of the text.
Rollo Dilworth is Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is also the Artistic Director of Singing City in Philadelphia, a group long supporting connection and diversity in choral singing. For its 75th anniversary, they commissioned composers to write short works to create the Singing City Songbook. UUFR Choir has performed several songs here from that songbook.
“United in Purpose” is a gospel-style arrangement. People sometimes ask me, “When are we going to do some gospel?!” And I understand their enthusiasm! It is beautiful, emotionally powerful, and infectious! Black gospel is also a music tradition that is deeply interwoven with the Black church. The context of this music matters, and one cannot just pick it up in one place and put it down in another. It is also complex – most gospel music has a lot of improvisation and a very particular style of piano. It is also very explicitly Christian, and that doesn’t always fit our U.U. theology.
Fortunately, there are composers like Rollo Dilworth whose music makes gospel-style music accessible to most choirs and possible to enjoy the style with cultural and musical fidelity.
