Commonwealth Chorale: The Dream Unfinished

The music for this concert celebrates the ideals of the American Dream, and explores racial injustice, hope, human resilience, and the possibility of realizing a world where people are not enslaved and where people of all backgrounds can coexist harmoniously. The manuscript for Florence Price’s Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight was among boxes of her music discovered in an abandoned house in St. Anne, IL, in 2009. The house had been Price’s summer home. Fortunately, those discovering the music did not simply discard it! With this discovery, more of Price’s music is now available in print. Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight depicts his restless spirit walking at midnight and mourning the struggles of his nation. The arrangement used for this concert was first created by our Artistic Director, Dr. Michael Driscoll.

Incorporating a rich mix of influences, including classical, jazz, and African American spirituals, William Grant Still’s Plain Chant for America both celebrates what we aspire to be and reminds us of what is yet to be accomplished. Other works on this program, often using settings of Langston Hughes’ poetry, explore the same themes through Margaret Bonds’ The Negro Speaks of Rivers and I, Too; Randall Thompson‘s Testament of Freedom; Florence Price’s My Dream; Irving Berlin’s Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor;  André Thomas’ I Dream a World; and Dorothy Rudd Moore’s Fourth of July Speech.