on Southern monuments, myths, and histories
a concert-length, multimedia musical composition
for mezzo-soprano, wind ensemble, wind quintet, archival sound and film
by David Kirkland Garner
[click to explore more]
experience: listen
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Red hot sun turning over
by David Kirkland Garner
1. MONUMENT-PRELUDE (Oonossa)
2. PEDESTAL (Monument march)
3. ARIA (Vacant river)
4. INTERLUDE (Down in Alabama)
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5. ARIA (Weeping dreamer)
6. INTERLUDE (Makes a long time man feel bad)
7. PEDESTAL (Battle monument scherzo)
8. MONUMENT (Long winds)
9. INTERLUDE (Red hot sun turning over)
10. ARIA (Beautiful and sad)
11. MONUMENT (Short winds)
12. PEDESTAL (Woodman, spare that tree)
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13. PEDESTAL (Hail Columbia)
14. MONUMENT (Distress)
15. INTERLUDE (The longest day I ever lived)
16. ARIA-POSTLUDE (Lonely chair)
experience: watch
1. MONUMENT-PRELUDE (Oonossa)
​OBJECTS
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Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 3 (opening section)
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Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina
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Oonossa (the Algonquin/Lumbee word for Pine Tree)
UNFOLDING
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the drums, which will become an important theme for the entire work, reference Lumbee and other Native American tribes in the South
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the melody outlines harmonic motion for the entire work
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the opening references 16. ARIA-POSTLUDE (Lonely chair)
2. PEDESTAL (Monument march)
​OBJECTS
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John Adams-like post-minimalist language
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“Monument March” (1872) by S. Mazurette
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bi-tonal arrangement of the Mazurette tune (F & Ab)
UNFOLDING
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each line of counterpoint is split up between 3-4 instruments, each adding different chromatic embellishment, blurring and obscuring the lines
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the drums play with time and perception with their shifting patterns
3. ARIA (Vacant river)
​OBJECTS
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transcription of The Vacant Chair by Ralph Stanley (adjusted to .25 speed)
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​​Lyrics compiled from The Vacant Chair (music by George Root, words by H.S. Washburn) , Beautiful Dreamer (by Stephen Foster, 1864), When this Cruel War is Over (Weeping sad and lonely) (by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1863), & Shall we gather at the river (by Robert Lowry, 1864)
UNFOLDING
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Lazy and other-worldly bluegrass feel
4. INTERLUDE (Down in Alabama)
​OBJECTS
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Field recording of by Arthur Bell singing at the Cummins State Farm (Camp #5) in Gould, Arkansas
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From Lomax’s field notes
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See Catherine A. Stewart's book Long Past Slavery: Representing Race in the Federal Writers' Project (UNC Press, 2016) for an illuminating history of Lomax's problematic approach to recording African-American performers in the South​
5. ARIA (Weeping dreamer)
OBJECTS
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Shall we gather at the river (by Robert Lowry, 1864)
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Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question
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​Aaron Copland, At the River
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Charles Ives, At the River (start at 3:00)
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​​Lyrics compiled from The Vacant Chair (music by George Root, words by H.S. Washburn) , Beautiful Dreamer (by Stephen Foster, 1864), When this Cruel War is Over (Weeping sad and lonely) (by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1863), & Shall we gather at the river (by Robert Lowry, 1864)
UNFOLDING
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Ives' and Copland's versions of At the River are layered on top of one another with the Copland heard in the quiet background layer and the Ives is the intrusive, loud layer which includes the voice
6. INTERLUDE (Makes a long time man feel bad)
7. PEDESTAL (Battle monument scherzo)
OBJECTS
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Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 3 (opening section)
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Battle Monument Waltz (1878) by RM Stults
UNFOLDING
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A playful reworking of the Stults waltz with added and dropped beats, strange tangents, cartoonish gestures, and reharmonizations
8. MONUMENT (Long winds)
OBJECTS
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Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 1 (opening chord progression)
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Steve Reich, Double Sextet
UNFOLDING
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The percussion plays the data on Confederate monuments-- each strike represents one monument or memorial erected or dedicated. Some years have only a couple of dedications while other years had many, for example 1910 had 44 dedications
9. INTERLUDE (Red hot sun turning over)
OBJECTS
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Recording by John Brown and Group of convicts recorded at the Florida State Prison; Raiford Penitentiary, Florida
10. ARIA (Beautiful and sad)
OBJECTS
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Harmonic progression from Beautiful Dreamer (by Stephen Foster, 1864)
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​​Lyrics compiled from The Vacant Chair (music by George Root, words by H.S. Washburn) , Beautiful Dreamer (by Stephen Foster, 1864), When this Cruel War is Over (Weeping sad and lonely) (by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1863), & Shall we gather at the river (by Robert Lowry, 1864)
11. MONUMENT (Short winds)
OBJECTS
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Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 1 (opening chord progression)
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Louis Andriessen, Symfonieen der Nederland
12. PEDESTAL (Woodman, spare that tree)
OBJECTS
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Woodman, Spare That Tree, by George Pope Morris (adjust to .25 speed)
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John Luther Adams, Become Ocean
13. PEDESTAL (Hail columbia)
OBJECTS
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Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 3 (opening section)
Hail Columbia, by Philip Phile (inverted & backwards)
14. MONUMENT (Distress)
OBJECTS
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Data on confederate monuments erected/dedicated (1861-2018)​
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the 4 toms play the dedication data​
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Data on lynchings of African Americans (1882-1968)
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32b: Distress, sacred harp (written by Anne Steele)
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provides the harmonic progression for the loud arpeggiated winds ​
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in the final section the low brass play a chorale version of the tune
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15. INTERLUDE (The longest day I ever lived)
16. ARIA-POSTLUDE (Lonely chair)
OBJECTS
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Charles Ives, Slow March, from 114 Songs
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G.F. Handel, Death March from Saul (& Stokowski Arrangement)
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When this Cruel War is Over (Weeping sad and lonely) (by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1863)
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​​Lyrics compiled from The Vacant Chair (music by George Root, words by H.S. Washburn) , Beautiful Dreamer (by Stephen Foster, 1864), When this Cruel War is Over (Weeping sad and lonely) (by Charles Carroll Sawyer, 1863), & Shall we gather at the river (by Robert Lowry, 1864)