a concert of 19th-century American folk songs,
spirituals and Hutchinson Family songs
conceived and produced by Karen Benjamin
a concert of 19th-century American folk songs,
spirituals and Hutchinson Family songs
conceived and produced by Karen Benjamin
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The songs may be spiritual, political, romantic…or just plain fun.
But all of them are American.
And what makes them so is not just the language and sensibility of their lyrics, but also the nature of their melodies, a nature that is inseparable from the rhythms and intonations of our spoken language.
You will hear the work of several arrangers, expressing their individual styles through matters of structure, choices of harmony, details of accompaniment.
But in each and every case the melody is as it has always been.
The melody is preserved. The melody is respected, as it must be, because while the words carry the literal message, it is in the melody that the soul of a song resides.
Karen Benjamin, soprano
Cedric Berry, bass-baritone
Victoria Kirsch, pianist
Alan Chapman, bass and vocals