In today’s performance, we celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by artfully connecting iconic texts and musical innovation. The social gospel that pervaded the Civil Rights Movement serves as a lens, focusing our eyes on our responsibility to one another. May the music guide our collective meditation on poetry and prose as we each consider anew our role in bending “the arc of the moral universe” toward justice.

Appropriately, Lift Every Voice and Sing opens the concert with lyrics penned by James Weldon Johnson in 1900, then principal of Jacksonville’s segregated Stanton School. His brother John Rosamond Johnson composed the melody, and a choir of 500 children from the school premiered the hymn in honor of President Lincoln’s 91st birthday. The poet later credited those children with the work’s enduring legacy: “the school children of Jacksonville kept singing it; they went off to other schools and sang it; they became teachers and taught it to other children.” After the NAACP adopted the song, it became a fixture of the Civil Rights Movement and earned the moniker, “The Black National Anthem”.

Like a Mighty Stream refers to Amos 5:24, where God warned his people that if they continued to oppress the poor and righteous, they would be washed away in a mighty stream of justice. Dr. King quoted the passage in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail as he proudly took his place among such persecuted extremists as the Prophet Amos, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson, asking, “Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice.”

Somebody’s Knockin’ at Your Door is the first of several traditional Negro spirituals on today’s program. While working in 19th century forced labor camps, enslaved people were forbidden from talking to one another but allowed to sing. We will never know who first sang these words or who composed the tune, but we honor the community that developed and refined the song over generations—adding a word or verse here, changing a pitch there. Spirituals are known for their use of multiple meanings. They are usually grounded in a clear Biblical reference (in this case, Revelation 3:20), but often imply more subversive connections to escaping their enslavement and/or wreaking justice upon their oppressors. The first published edition of this song is a Hampton University collection of spirituals from 1874, but John Wesley Work, Jr.’s arrangement for the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1909 remains one of the most influential.

I Have a Dream comes from a musical by the same name created by John Jacobson, Rollo Dilworth, Moses Hogan, and Emily Crocker. The show also includes Like a Mighty Stream and tells the stories of Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. through music and narration. This song teaches that the dream of freedom and peace echoes everywhere—in whispers, prayers, and even nature. Listen for the music depicting this echo in call and response form, as half the choir completes the thoughts begun by the other half.

Our next three pieces remind us that we are all interconnected, reflecting Dr. King’s statement that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” One Song highlights the unique power of cooperative singing to inspire connection, joy, and action. The text includes testimonies from members of the Treble Chorus of The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York, an organization that lives out Dr. King’s message of seeking progress through “genuine brotherhood and peace”. Made up of 8 choirs and 8 orchestras, they regularly produce high quality musical performances, while also supporting a local food bank, veteran’s home, children’s center, rehabilitation institute, and other charities through volunteerism.

Does the World Say? teaches us to pay attention to how others are feeling. Such empathy allows us to sense when others are hurting, and in those moments, we can reach out to offer strength. In I Need You to Survive, Hezekiah Walker and The Love Fellowship Choir rephrase Amos’s warning above. “It is God’s will that every need be fulfilled,” and when we ignore those needs, we all feel the resulting pain. An old country preacher once said, “It’s hard to hate someone you pray for.” Walker might add that it’s even harder to ignore the needs of those we love.

Crowded Table was the second single released by The Highwomen (Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby, Maren Morris, and Amanda Shires), a country “super-group” formed in 2019 as an homage to the legendary Highwaymen (Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson). Andrea Ramsey’s arrangement focuses on our journey together, reminding us that crowding is a feature, not a bug. There is always room for more at the table, and we find greater joy by adding seats than by locking doors. May we heed the Highwomen’s advice and sow the seed of happiness to “let the roots run deep.”

Music Down in My Soul is based on the spiritual Over My Head, notably recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe in 1941 as Up Above My Head. Arranger Moses Hogan has reimagined the song as only he could, gradually developing the classic refrain into an overflowing cacophony of praise. This innovative setting reminds us that Spirituals have always been an aural and improvised tradition, where each variation is just as authentic as the last, so long as it speaks to the present moment as clearly as the original did in its time. Hogan’s unique voice has inspired many arrangers, but few find the same level of authentic clarity and connection that permeate his work.

Marques L. A. Garrett composed My Heart Be Brave for Dr. Anthony Trecek-King and the iconic professional ensemble Seraphic Fire. The composer was drawn to the first and last lines of James Wheldon Johnson’s Sonnet, which call us to perseverance even in the face of great adversity. He writes, “In the midst of discrimination, our heart—the core of our being—must lead us into rightful change. And as we continue doing right, the principles of honesty, love, and justice will give us the power to strive for what is due all of humanity.”

So where do we find the energy to continue when hope is in short supply? Many in the Civil Rights Movement turned to faith, and the next numbers celebrate that history and tradition. In the spiritual, I’ve Just Come from the Fountain, arranged by Andre Thomas, the fountain may refer to baptism or to Jesus as the source of the river of life. In either case, sisters, brothers, and even back-sliders take a drink from the cool waters, reaffirm their love for their Savior, and find hope in renewed commitment.

Oh, How I Love Jesus began its life as a poem by the Anglican priest Frederick Whitfield, but the now-familiar refrain developed when the song became a staple of 19th century camp meeting revivals. James Cleveland wrote and recorded He’s the Joy of My Salvation with The Angelic Choir in 1963 as a testimony to the way God’s love inspires the faithful to persist. Both songs testify to the joy discovered in religious expression, and Roger Holland’s creative arrangements capture and amplify that essence. His settings respond to the indwelling of heavenly love with enthusiastic and overflowing praise.

However, the New Testament Greek word latreia is translated into English as both “worship” and “service”, suggesting that neither can be complete without the other. Thus, linking the two songs of joy mentioned above, United in Purpose calls on us to channel religious fervor into tangible results. Listen for Rollo Dilworth’s steady, rhythmic setting to represent the irresistible drumbeat of progress. Maya Angelou’s observation that “good done anywhere is good done everywhere” provides a beautiful and productive counterbalance to Dr. King’s earlier statement about “injustice done anywhere”.

In 1934, Charles F. Manney adapted Great and Glorious from the Gloria of Franz Josef Haydn’s St. Cecilia Mass (1766), replacing the original Latin text with an English hymn of praise. Interestingly, Haydn’s original manuscript was lost in a 1768 fire, prompting the composer to rewrite it from memory a few years later.

Frank Ticheli’s Earth Song is one of the most popular works published by Hinshaw. Originally part of a work for wind ensemble, the composer kept thinking, “This music is just begging to be sung by a chorus.” Several years into the Iraq War, Ticheli wrote the text to fit the music as “a cry and a prayer for peace.” He also drew on his childhood experiences with bullies, where “music was my refuge,” noting that “music is a place where people can find acceptance and love – and it can often be their saving grace.” Perhaps the work’s greatest beauty is the near-universal resonance of its text. As Ticheli explained, “A poem doesn’t have to mean one thing – it doesn’t even necessarily have to mean. A poem is. It just is.” In this spirit, we all “sing, be, live, see peace.”

Rosephanye Powell infused To Sit and Dream with the jazz influences that surrounded and inspired Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. She envisioned Hughes alone in his apartment and reading the newspaper. There, he was both overwhelmed by “our problem world” and dreaming of a better future where those who dare to dream can “make our world anew”. In his dream, he reached out his hand to those passing by his window, inviting them to be a part of building a better future. The end of the poem and Powell’s setting suggests that Hughes knew he would never live to see the future of his dreams, but he hoped that future generations—perhaps even ours—would eventually arrive there.

James Furman subtitled Hehlehlooyuh, “a joyful expression” in 1976, and this choral tour-de-force certainly achieves its billing. Furman’s composition draws on the harmonic languages of both gospel and jazz, building a unique sonic world on poly-chords (two harmonies sounding at the same time), substitution chords (replacing one chord with another that shares two of its three pitches), and split-third chords (combining major and minor harmonies). Combined with a lightning-fast tempo, syncopated rhythms, and multiple changes in texture, this work is a masterpiece of choral ingenuity.

Jacob’s Ladder is one of the earliest documented spirituals, having developed no later than 1825. It is based on Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28, where angels climb up and down a ladder that connects earth to heaven. Lyrics vary from place to place and over time, but they emphasize spiritual growth as climbing toward God. The song found a place describing the struggle of the labor movement in the 1930s and again during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Its steady rhythm and repetitive text highlight the slow inevitability of progress toward righteousness. David Morrow’s setting translates each rung into musical form through the frequent use of ascending and descending chromatic lines. Additionally, each subsequent verse is set in a key one step higher than the last.

Courtney Carey’s arrangement of the spiritual, I Ain’t Got Weary Yet employs a call and response texture drawn from traditions developed in 19th-century forced labor camps. There, a leader would sing a line, and the workers would respond in time to their labor, thus keeping everyone engaged and on task. However, like Morrow, Carey uses chromatic motion, but in this tune, it destabilizes the melody. Perhaps this is meant to depict the tiredness that the songwriter is defiantly trying to hide, ignore, and overcome. The text references the Israelites’ escape from Egypt where they wandered “in the wilderness a mighty long time” before finding safety in the Promised Land. This is a common theme among spirituals, reminding the singer that God has led His children to freedom in the past, and will do so again in His perfect timing.

Betelehemu is a Nigerian carol, and this arrangement developed through a collaboration in the 1950’s between Babatunde Olatunji, then a student at Morehouse College, and Wendell Whalum, the second director of the Morehouse College Glee Club. Written in Olatunji’s native Yoruba language, it includes elements of traditional Nigerian worship, including drumming and dancing. This is a signature song of the MCGC, and with 70+ years of experience, literally no choir in the world performs it as spectacularly as they do.

Our final number provides a unified reminder that hope is a journey, not a destination. It is both the currency and the vehicle for change. Unfortunately, hope is also fragile, sustained and fueled only through constant attention. Jim Papoulis teaches us that journeys are easier, more joyful, and more effective when shared, writing, “The only way to change is to take a stand and rise together in our hearts.” We hope that all who have heard our combination of text and music will join us on the Journey of Hope to ensure true “liberty and justice for all.”

Program notes contributed by Dr. Julian Bryson, Director of Choral Activities at Jacksonville University and Voices of Jacksonville Tenor.

Julian David Bryson is Director of Choral Activities at Jacksonville University (FL), where he leads three choral ensembles and teaches courses in conducting, education, entrepreneurship, and music appreciation. He and the choirs of JU were finalists in three categories for The American Prize 2023. Dr. Bryson is also a member of The Voices of Jacksonville. Visit https://www.julianbryson.com/ to learn more about Dr. Bryson.

 This term is used in this context on the recommendation of African American scholars including Dr. Marques L. A. Garrett to recognize the plight of these songs’ creators. They were specifically denied citizenship because of their race, so calling them “African Americans” would obscure the historic record.