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Bent Frequency performs Alvin Singleton's Sweet Chariot

Apr. 01, 2019

Bent Frequency performs Alvin Singleton's <em>Sweet Chariot</em>

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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