Musical Moments #34
“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.”
—Lao Tzu
The Ordering of Moses
R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)
For additional information on R. Nathaniel Dett and this oratorio, please reference the previous “Musical Moments.”
After the successful performance of The Ordering of Moses, Dett accepted a professorship at Bennett College for a few years before joining the USO. Unfortunately, he died on tour while helping support the WWII effort.
In the latter part of his career, Dett wrote a number of piano suites and spirituals, always infusing his work with the style of European Romantic composers.
In his personal life, Dett married Helen Elise Smith. She was the first African American to graduate from the Institute of Musical Art in New York City which eventually became known as the Julliard School. The couple had two daughters, and sadly, all of his immediate family preceded him in death.
Dett is remembered in Canada through the establishment of the Nathaniel Dett Chorale which performs his work as well as other music of African influence. An elementary school in Chicago also bears his name.
Our excerpt today starts with Moses doubting his ability to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt, followed by a section Dett named “Is It Not I, Jehovah.” The next section, “And When Moses Smote the Water,” is just plain fun to sing and hear. (This piece is a first for me conducting anything to do with “smoting!”)
The “March of the Israelites Through the Red Sea” section is inventive and truly unique. No music I know of has this sound or feel rhythmically and melodically. When the choir stops singing, the orchestra continues playing to depict the pursuit of the Egyptians through the Red Sea. And as the music comes to a gentle stop, Dett sets us up for our next installment of this work, the exciting, victorious celebration of the Israelites. I promise it will be exciting.
Today’s offering features tenor Samuel McKelton and bass Kevin Deas with the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra joined by the Bethune Cookman University Concert Choir, Terrance L. Lane conductor.
I hope you are enjoying the energy this work exudes and the colorful musical palette Dett uses to create this distinctive and imaginative oratorio.
“The painter turns a poem into a painting, the musician sets a picture to music.”
—Robert Schumann (1810-1856)