What is a Triage Concert?

The 5 Stages of Grief

Psychologists have identified that there are five general stages of grief that humans go through. Four of those stages: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression do not occur in any specific order. The fifth, acceptance, is required work in order to move onward. For the purposes of this concert program/playlist, they have been placed in a specific order. Each stage of grief is tied to a specific style of Black Music. Specific pieces of music within those styles have been chosen in accordance with those stages of grief.

Faith-The 6th Stage of Grief

Black Americans have never survived in America without some form of faith. This is not necessarily a religious specific idea. Moving forward in life is always an act of faith. There is a dimension as human beings, where in coming out of a circumstance, we need to believe that improvement is possible if not in reach. The cultural religious life of Black Americans is a fertile ground for musical options illustrating this. I felt it was vital to add faith as the last stage of grief. If we do not believe things will be better, we as humans cease to move forward.

Theme Song of The Black String Triage Ensemble

Frederick Douglass Funeral March (Classical)

Composer: Nathaniel Clark Smith (1877 - 1935)

Nathaniel Clark Smith was a bandleader in the Midwest. He wrote this piece in tribute to the former slave turned abolitionist Frederick Douglass. This piece of music has no lyrics. It is a funeral march set in g minor. The main theme is contrasted by the trio section written in B Flat Major. Listening to this, a person can almost hear the consistent heavy rhythmic footsteps of a marching band. It is normal in human behavior for a person to stamp their foot especially when they are angry. Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were good friends who held each other's intelligence in high esteem. Both men were ardent believers in the humanity promised in The Constitution and adamant about uniting the country of the United States. To lose a patriotic person like Frederick Douglass and know that the things he fought for have not fully come into fruition, all those who consider themselves Americans should be stamping their foot in angry outrage. The Black String Triage Ensemble begins every Triage Concert by playing this piece first.

2022/2023 Music Program Notes

(UNEDITED)

Summer 2022/2023 Program Notes Introduction

Programming the music for The Black String Triage Ensemble is always an extraordinary challenge. In 2022 we are still reliving the Summer of 2020 and 2021 multiplied by other anxieties and concerns. The twin horrors of racial injustice and the global pandemic loom large and are still with us. As always, the question of human value stands clearly at the forefront of the interrelated nature of these things. Both music programs for 2022 speak to the question of human value in two different aspects. The first program for 2022 is titled Give Me My Flowers. Although the song itself is not being used, Give Me My Flowers is an anthem of The Black Church that says we should appreciate people while they are with us. The collection of music that comprises our program Give Me My Flowers, examines human value in the context of fading or broken romantic relationships between people and life’s unexpected turns that place us in harmony with another human being. The second program for 2022, Flowers of the Inner Light, examines our ability to cultivate self agency to act on behalf of others we proclaim to love and care about. It is a collection of music centered around guarding and protecting the shining beacon from within that is powered by your conviction on how you do justice on behalf of others in the garden of the world.

Summer 2022/2023 Triage Concert Program:

“Give Me My Flowers”

Denial: (Tango)

“Oblivion”

Composer: Astor Piazzolla (1921 - 1992)

Astor Piazzolla was born in Argentina. His love of music was evident as a child. In his late teens, he joined a tango orchestra and started studying composition with Alberto Ginastera. Piazzolla fell in love with modern classical composers of the period like Stravinsky and studied the harmonies of Stravinksy and Ravel. Soon he began composing his own works and shortly thereafter, had his own tango orchestra which later disbanded. The hunger to be even more ambitious in his composing continued. Piazzolla continued to study classical music and started studying jazz. All of Piazzolla’s effort paid off. His musical innovations to tango music made him one of the most significant composers in the history of tango music.

“Oblivion” was written for Mario Bellochio’s film Henry IV. It is written in the style of a milonga, a dance and music form that predates the tango. The milonga has its roots in the Europeans that immigrated to Argentina that raised cattle. Their physical geographic proximity to the Afro-Argentines gave birth to tango. A major difference between the milonga and the tango, is that when dancing the milonga, the legs are looser and more relaxed.

“Oblivion” is an intense piece of music. Piazzolla writes this about love that has faded away into oblivion. The first line of lyrics, “Heavy, suddenly they seem heavy, the linen and velvets of your bed when our love passes to oblivion.” This particular composition is elegantly melancholy but at the same time filled with energy and passion. The moving lines of the ostonado in the background that support the melody, give you a sensation of something breaking apart and dissolving into nothing. It is an ideal piece to represent denial to begin this collection of music.

Anger: (Classical)

“Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes”

Composer: Florence Beatrice Price (1887 - 1953)

Florence Beatrice Price was born in Arkansas. She began composing music at the early age of  four. When she was nineteen, Mrs. Price entered the New England conservatory of Music and graduated with degrees in both piano and organ. In 1932 she won two first prizes in the Lewis Rodman Wanamaker competition for her “Symphony Number 1 in E Minor” and her “Piano Sonata in E Minor”.

“Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes” is an interesting choice for her to include in her collection of Five Negro Folksongs for string quartet. It is an English folksong, not an American folksong. Other pieces of music she uses for thematic material seem at first glance to be familiar to Black Americans of the Time. “Calvary”; Shortnin Bread”; “Clementine”; and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” would most certainly have been known at that time. “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes” moves and dances in an almost waltz like - seesaw fashion. It does not play with syncopated rhythms like the other pieces in her collection.

Why did F. B. Price, choose this piece?  In a letter to the conductor  Serge Koussevitzky, she says, “My dear Dr. Koussevitzky, To begin with I have two handicaps—those of sex and race. I am a woman; and I have some Negro blood in my veins.” The ad  “You Love Me” from Beats by Dre, speaks to a particular frustration and anger experienced by Black and Brown people. This frustration and anger arises when a group of people are loved for what they produce but not who they are. The balance of the life of Florence B. Price saw lynchings and the constant fight to get her music heard despite it being popular to the public. “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes”, could easily be the classical soundtrack to the ad by Beats by Dre. As a representation of the anger and frustration of that, Mrs. Price has taken lemons and made sonic lemonade for us to listen to and think about what love means between all of us.

Bargaining: (Jazz)

“Lotus Blossom”

Composer: Billy Strayhorn (1915 - 1967)

The epic Jazz composer William “Billy” Thomas Strayhorn was a master storyteller and picture painter with music. Unlike his longtime friend and creative partner Duke Ellington, Billy was classically trained in piano and composition. Most of Duke’s most famous musical arrangements were done by Billy. The  members of Duke’s band called him Sweetpea and made him their chef. Billy had an unusual amount of courage for that era of American life. Like James Bladwin and Bayard Rustin, Billy Strayhorn, was an openly Black Gay man at a time when being and expressing  was exceptionally rare.

“Lotus Blossom” holds the distinction of being the most confusing piece of music for Duke Ellington that Billy Strayhorn wrote. There were many times that Duke sat at the piano trying to figure out how it is that Billy wrote such a beautiful piece that seems to unfold on itself. It is so significant that after Billy died, Duke and some members of his band went into the studio to record some of Strayhorn’s music. As the band finished its recording session and the musicians were packing up, Duke in great sadness sits down at the piano and starts to play “Lotus Blossom”. The sound engineer had not stopped recording. On the album, And His Mother Called Him Bill, you hear Duke sit back down to the piano to play. One by one his band members unpack and join in playing the tune.

Billy has a few song titles about flowers. “In a Blue Summer Garden”, “Passion Flower”, “A Flower is A Lonesome Thing”, and Lotus Blossom. Billy grew up in an abusive household. His father was a violent alcoholic. He went and lived with his grandmother. She had a garden at her house. Billy loved to go into the garden and spend hours and hours looking at the flowers.‘Lotus Blossom” is his song without words. Like a spool of yarn, it unwinds itself. It asks questions and then answers them in a musical sense while leaving us emotionally feeling like we have evaporated into the air.

Depression: (Mariachi)

“Amor Eterno”

Composer: Juan Gabriel (1950 - 2016)

Astor Piazzolla was born in Argentina. His love of music was evident as a child. In his late teens, he joined a tango orchestra and started studying composition with Alberto Ginastera. Piazzolla fell in love with modern classical composers of the period like Stravinsky and studied the harmonies of Stravinsky and Ravel. Soon he began composing his own works and shortly thereafter, had his own tango orchestra which later disbanded. The hunger to be even more ambitious in his composing continued. Piazzolla continued to study classical music and started studying jazz. All of Piazzolla’s effort paid off. His musical innovations to tango music made him one of the most significant composers in the history of tango music.

Originally named Alberto Aguilera Valadez, Mexican born Juan Gabriel is one of the most popular singer songwriters from Mexico. His father struggled immensely with mental health issues. His mother struggled to care for the family so she sent him away to boarding school. While at boarding school. Juan Gabriel learned to play piano and guitar from one of his teachers. Juan missed his mother very very much while at boarding school. At the age of 13 when he was tasked with taking the trash out, he left the school to go looking for his mother. He found her and left the school to permanently live with her. She was working as a maid. He worked odd jobs washing cars and singing in restaurants to bring money home for the family. He tried twice to go to Mexico City and have a singing career but he was unsuccessful both times. The second time we went, he was at a friend's party and was accused of stealing something. Somehow, Juan made friends with the director of the jail who introduced him to singer Enriqueta Jiménez. The singer petitioned the judge to get Juan out of jail. The judge found insufficient evidence to continue to hold Juan. Enriqueta Jiménez brought him to RCA records where Juan auditioned again and was accepted. After all those trials and tribulations Juan finally achieved the success he deserved.

Juan was able to get enough money to buy the house that his mother worked in as a maid. She lived in it for three years before having a heat attack.“Amor Eterno” is Juan Gabriel’s greatest hit. He wrote it in memorial for the death of his mother. Across Mexico, “Amor Eterno” is sung and played at funerals. It is such a significant piece that it is part of the repertoire of mariachi ensembles across the world.

Juan Gabriel’s “Amor Eterno” perfectly captures the depression all of us experience when we lose someone significant to us. In his lyrics Juan writes,“I have suffered a lot for your absence. From that day until today, I'm not happy. And although I have a clear conscience, I know that I could have done more for you. Dark loneliness I am living, the same loneliness of your grave, mom. And it is that you are, it is that you are the love of which I have, the saddest memory of Acapulco. But as I wish, oh that you lived. That your little eyes would never have closed never and be looking at them.”

2022/2023 Program NOtes Continued

Acceptance: (Gospel)

“Precious Memories”

Composer: Roberta Martin (1907 - 1969)

Roberta Martin was born in Arkansas and had a profound sense of music at an early age. By the time she was ten, her family had moved to Chicago. She had been playing for several church functions and studied with Dr. Thomas Dorsey, the father of gospel music. Roberta became a church choir director at a very young age. Her high school music teacher, Mildred Bryant Jones taught her piano and choral directing. It was under her tutelage that she decided to go to Northwestern University and study piano with the intent of becoming a classical pianist.

There are seven historically Black owned and operated christian denominations that are the core of The Black Church in America. Those denominations are: the African Methodist Episcopal church; African Methodist Episcopal Zion church; the Church of God in Christ; the National Baptist Convention of America; the National Baptist Convention U.S.A.; the Progressive Baptist Convention; and the Christain Methodist Episcopal church. “Precious Memories” was written during the golden age of gospel music. It is so well known, that it is used as a funerary anthem across the entire Black Church in America. It is not only sung at funerals, but also sung in rememberance of those who have passed away during memorial services or memorial portions of the worship service. Occasionally it is sung at appreciation worship services honoring a particular person or persons who are still living and in attendance. The lyrics are entirely about acceptance. “Precious memories, how they linger. How they ever touch my soul. In the stillness of the midnight

Faith: (Soul)

“Love’s Theme”

Composer: Barry White (1944 - 1993)

Barry White was born in Galveston, Texas but he was raised in Los Angeles. Early on in life, White would listen to recordings of classical piano music and would sit down at the piano and play what he heard on the albums. White did not initially intend to be a composer, singer, or songwriter. He was caught up in life in the streets. After stealing tires and ending up in jail a few times, he heard Elvis on the radio and decided to throw himself into making music. Barry worked to improve his musical skills adding guitar and bass guitar to his instrumental music knowledge. Eventually he left for Hollywood and formed his own singing group. He was extremely successful in his solo singer/singer songwriting career. He was also successful at finding singers and writing for them. As a music producer, Barry was even more successful.

Among the many groups that White formed throughout his lifetime, Love Unlimited remains his signature achievement. The female trio of Love Unlimited were the backup singers for White on his albums and when he went on tour. White did decide to write exclusively for the female trio. Love Unlimited had a few albums of their own. White, eventually had a forty piece orchestra that would accompany him and his backup singers.

The sound of strings, particularly violins, have come to symbolize romance and faith in romantic love. Various expressions of this can be heard in the string writing of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture, the Tchaikovsky violin concerto, the Intermezzo from the opera Cavalleria Rusticana are just a handful of pieces that come to mind. “Love’s Theme” , while not a classical music piece, falls right in line with those expressions. Musically “Love’s Theme” defines the sound of the 1970s and is a testament to the enduring faith in the power of love to make a difference. 

Summer 2022/2023 Triage Concert Program:

“Flowers of the Inner Light”

Denial: (Spiritual)

“This Little Light of Mine”

Composer: The Ancestors/Arr. Moses Hogan

“This Little Light of Mine” is a well known Negro Spiritual. Usually it is played and sung at an upbeat tempo. This particular arrangement by Moses Hogan, slows down the tempo and is written in a passionate and contemplative manner. By arranging it in this way, Hogan places focus on enduring through conflict. Musically, he paints a picture of us as people guarding our own internal flame against the wind and rain of a world that seeks to snuff both it and ourselves out.

Anger: (Classical)

“Andante Moderato”

Composer: Florence B. Price (1887 - 1953)

Florence Beatrice Price was born in Arkansas. She began composing music at the early age of  four. When she was nineteen, Mrs. Price entered the New England conservatory of Music and graduated with degrees in both piano and organ. In 1932 she won two first prizes in the Lewis Rodman Wanamaker competition for her “Symphony Number 1 in E Minor” and her “Piano Sonata in E Minor”.

Was it not for the observant couple that purchased Price’s former home in Illinois, the world would not know of her music. They found a tree had crashed through the roof and the house was slated for demolition. Only one thing saved it. Strewn all over the house were pieces of music with the name F.B. Price on them. After making a call or two it was determined that this home belonged to the composer F.B. Price. That phone call initiated scholars to go through every scrap of paper and assemble as much of Price’s compositions as possible. The “Andante Moderato” comes from one of Price’s string quartets. Thankfully, this gem was not lost to the world.

Although it is relatively simple on the page, it is profoundly moving music with lots of complex emotional depth and strong character. There is a certain type of serenity and conviction about it. All of these traits make it a good representation for anger in this collection. Its inclusion in this program is a solid representation of the righteous indignation of the peaceful warrior.

Bargaining: (R&B)

“Black Orchid”

Composer: Stevie Wonder (1950 - present)/Arr. David Robinson III

Steveland Hardaway Morris, also known as Stevie Wonder, is a Michigan born singer, composer, and performer. He was born six weeks early with an eye disorder that was worsened by too much oxygen in his incubator. At the age of four he was involved in music in his church choir. As a result this left Mr. Wonder with blindness for his entire life. At the age of 10 he taught himself piano, harmonica, drums, and guitar. It was a member of a Motown band that discovered Stevie’s talent when he was 11 years old. By the age of 12, he released a tribute album to Ray Charles. Ever since then his music career has taken off and soared mightily.

“Black Orchid” is a piece of music Stevie wrote for a documentary about flowers called The Secret Life of Plants. The album was titled Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants. Stevie wrote all the music for the album and most of the lyrics. Stevie said he was always up for a different sort of challenge so he tried his hand at this particular task. In order for him to achieve this, Stevie had the film's producer describe each visual image in detail. Some of his critics have called his effort doing this particular project an overreach. However, in saying that, they miss the significance that the album had on the billboard charts. The success of the soundtrack far outpaced the film itself. The album achieved number four in the Rock and R&B Billboard charts in 1979. The most significant piece on the album was “Black Orchid”.

Wonder was asked in an interview about his thoughts on shootings and gun violence. He said that they were all too common in cities all across america. He said, “The right to bear arms? What about the right to live?” The inclusion of “Black Orchid'' as part of this collection places it in a position where we reckon with our self worth. It is an internal conversation where we come to see with great struggle our own sense of importance against the odds we face. The lyrics to “Black Orchid” speak in many ways to this: A flake of snow within a storm, a new way waiting to be born. In a world with need for change, a touch of love in fear of hate. A rushing wind that's asked to wait, for the promises of rain. A pearl of wisdom entrapped by poverty, she gives love with purity. Filling minds with hopeful schemes, to build worlds enhanced by peace. Draped in sparkling morning dew, she expresses life anew From the earth beneath her feet, she is a flower that grows. In love ability. This kind of internal conversation is a type of bargaining where we begin to come to know the gravity of our own inner strength.

Depression: (Ballad)

“Why? The King of Love is Dead”

Composer: Calvin Eugene “Gene” Taylor (1929 -  2001)

Gene Taylor was born in Toledo, Ohio. His music career did not begin until he moved to Detroit, Michigan. As a bass player, Taylor was heavily involved in the Jazz scene before joining Nina Simone’s band. Previously, he had played with Horace Silver’s band.

This piece of music is particularly significant to American history. It was written three days after the death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. making it the first piece of music written about King in the immediate aftermath of his death. It has been called the saddest song ever written. Dr. Nina Simone debuted this piece at the Westbury Music Festival on Long Island, New York. She and her band learned it the same day of the concert. 

Before launching into the song, Dr. Simone tells her audience, “you know they are killing us one by one now. I hope you know that.” The lyrics capture the hopelessness and depression that gripped the United States. In our present moment, echoes of that hopelessness and depression resonate loudly off the walls of our history and find its way permeating our now. The High Priestess of Soul, Dr. Nina Simone, closes the piece by asking us,  “What’s going to happen now that the king of love is dead?” 

Acceptance: (Soul)

“What’s Going On”

Composer: Marvin Gaye (1939 - 1984)

Marvin Gaye was born in Washington, D.C. to a father who was a preacher and a mother who was a domestic worker. Marvin started singing in church at the age of four while his father accompanied him on the piano. It was not until he got a singing role in a school play that he was encouraged to pursue music as a career. He did not start taking music seriously until junior high school. In his late teens, after serving a brief time in the U.S. Air Force,  Marvin started forming his own singing groups and began working as a session musician.

The music composition, “What’s Going On” was inspired by a friend of Gaye’s who saw police brutality at an anti-war protest. It is written in the surprisingly bright key of E Major. The flurry of sixteenth notes at the beginning followed by the glissando sliding down, sets the stage for the lyrics. That introduction is a musical sensation of emotional panic headed towards a crash. The interlude between sections where Gaye sings not words, but sings syllables over suspended chords and moving rhythmic figures, musically strengthens our sense of a world in disarray. 

This year, “What’s Going On” turns 50 years old. The message in “Whats Going On”  calls us to recognize the problems that exist in society but to not let those problems shackle us to depression. Marvin reminds us that we all have the capacity to be change agents for each other's circumstance. Marvin tells us this by singing, “We’ve got to find a way to bring some lovin here today.” We are called to be empowered to set the climate for the treatment of our fellow persons on Earth. It is this message of acceptance of our own capacity shown through human agency, that propels us forward. It allows us to we turn hope into action and remake the world around us so that it embraces everyone.

Faith: (Gospel)

“Lord, I’m Available to You” 

Composer: Rev. Carlis Moody Jr. (1957 - present)

A native of Waukegan, Illinois Rev. Carlis Moody Jr. began doing music at an early age. His first composition “Now It All Seems So Simple” was written at the age of 11. At the age of 16 Rev. Carlis Moody Jr. was appointed to lead the choir at his father’s church, Faith Temple in Evanston, Illinois. In the course of the last 20 years, Rev. Moody has written over 100 songs. He has worked with most of the major names in gospel music like Kirk Franklin and Shirley Caesar. Rev. Moody’s musical activities have earned him four Grammy awards and two Stella Awards.

“Lord I’m Available to You” is a wonderfully elegant piece of music. It demonstrates how well the blending of lyrics and soul stirring music can grab a person and invite them to listen. Much of this piece is written in a mostly stepwise fashion. Melodic movements in steps make a piece of music easier to sing and are the bedrock of congregational singing for that reason. Rev. Moody has used this step by step motion to great effectiveness. His lyrics speak of the human capacity to hear and see the pain of people, and the spiritual yearning to be a change agent to address it. By coupling his words with the step by step melodic movement, this becomes a compelling petition that soars to the heavens. It is so compelling, that by the end of the piece, we feel that our request has been granted.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Hope is something we do together. Both in faith and by faith we can find a newfound capacity for ourselves to engage the world. By faith we realize our individual power to band together to make a new reality. By faith we can make a commitment that what we see and experience today does not have to be our tomorrow. We do not need to be shackled to hopelessness, despair, depression, disempowerment any longer. We are emboldened collectively to be the change to make a new world and a new reality come into existence for all of us.