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Bent Frequency performs Alvin Singleton's Sweet Chariot

Apr. 01, 2019

Bent Frequency performs Alvin Singleton's Sweet Chariot

On April 9, Bent Frequency performed Alvin Singleton's Sweet Chariot at Georgia State University's Kopleff Recital Hall.

Sweet Chariot employs a four-note “theme” derived from the melodic curve of the words “sweet chariot" from the popular African-American spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Rather than presenting the spiritual in its entirety, Singleton hints at it throughout the piece with this short motif. The composer notes:

"Human experience shows that there are images familiar to us that they do not have to be completely defined. How much of a face does one need to sketch out (absent nose, eyes, mouth) before it is recognizable as a face? When choosing a “Negro Spiritual” upon which to base my composition, I chose one that is universally recognizable, Swing Low Sweet Chariot.  Therefore I needed not to use it in its entirety. In fact, it is sketchily quoted a few times here and there throughout the composition." 


Also of note, Singleton's Agoru II was performed twice by award-winning cellist Seth Parker Woods last month, first at the University of Baltimore's Wright Theater on March 5 and then again at Boston Conservatory on March 14. Argoru II for cello is the second in a series of solo pieces by the composer for various musical instruments. This composition, like all the Argoru pieces, provides a musical platform for sheer virtuosic display. The title, Argoru, comes from the Twi language (spoken in Ghana) and means "to play." 

Listen to a recording of Alvin Singleton's string quartet, Somehow We Can (1994) here:


(Somehow We Can/Alvin Singleton/Momenta Quartet)


To learn more about Alvin Singleton, visit: schott-music.com.

Alvin Singleton

Sweet Chariot (2012)
for 2 flutes (doubling piccolo and alto flute), bassoon,
soprano saxophone (doubling tenor saxophone), and cello
16’

Argoru II (1970)
for solo cello
13’
 

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