Stick Time: Power In Simplicity

A couple years ago, the tour program I was conducting included the William Dawson classic, “Ezekiel Saw De Wheel.”  After one evening’s performance, a choral friend remarked, “I’ve been trying to do so much new music, I’d forgotten how powerful that simple piece is!”  “Ezekiel” was in her choir members’ folders the next semester.

 

Here is a wonderful example of the incredible power in simplicity.  It’s also a taste of the rich musical history we have access to right here in the United States; in this case Alice Parker’s setting is based on shape note music of the Sacred Harp tradition.  To learn more about shape note singing, these Choral Journal articles may be of use:  “Shape Notes and Choral Singing: Did We Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater?” (Joel Stegal), “The Southern Folk Hymn: Notes on Performance Practice” (Timothy Smith), “A Bicentennial tribute to William Walker” (Harry Eskew), and “Mode and Method: A Conductor’s Guide to Concert Performance Prectices of Shape Note Singing” (Amelia Nagoski).