Elam Sprenkle's
The Creation
for chorus, youth chorus, piano,
mezzo-soprano & brass quintet
Conducted by
Frances Dawson
Performed by the
Columbia Pro Cantare
Glenelg Middle School Chorus
James Allison, Piano
Marianna Busching, Mezzo-Soprano
Annapolis Brass Quintet
Robert Suggs, trumpet
David Cran, trumpet
Sharon Tiebert, horn
Wayne Wells, trombone
Robert Posten, bass trombone
World Premiere Performance
March 17, 1990
Glenelg Country School, Glenelg, MD
Maryland composer Elam Ray Sprenkle believes that the running thread of American arts and literature is straight forward speech.
Early 20th century American poet James Weldon Johnson believed that the arts and literature could elevate and reflect the true genius of a people.
Elam Sprenkle has said that American poets . . . remind him of what W. H. Auden said, "Take common words and say uncommon things."
James Johnson has said his poem The Creation was written in his mind, "in the tradition of a Negro sermon."
Early 20th century American poet James Weldon Johnson believed that the arts and literature could elevate and reflect the true genius of a people.
Elam Sprenkle has said that American poets . . . remind him of what W. H. Auden said, "Take common words and say uncommon things."
James Johnson has said his poem The Creation was written in his mind, "in the tradition of a Negro sermon."
The Creation: music by Elam Sprenkle
Written in 1990 for chorus, youth chorus,
piano, mezzo-soprano, and brass quintet.
The Creation: poem by James Weldon Johnson
Written in 1920 and published in 1927
as part of God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse.
The Creation
To listen to this March 17, 1990 world premiere performance
Tap > Below
(There may by a slight pause before sound begins.)
THE CREATION
And God stepped out on space,
And He looked around and said,
"I'm lonely --
I'll make me a world.”
___
To follow the music text with the full poem tap
Here
And God stepped out on space,
And He looked around and said,
"I'm lonely --
I'll make me a world.”
___
To follow the music text with the full poem tap
Here
James Weldon Johnson was a civil rights activist, writer, composer, politician, educator and lawyer. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 17, 1871, the son of a freeborn Virginian father and a Bahamian mother, and was raised without a sense of limitations amid a society focused on segregating African Americans. After graduating from Atlanta University, Johnson was hired as a principal in a grammar school and while serving in this position he founded The Daily American newspaper. In 1897, Johnson became the first African American to earn a law degree in Florida.
In 1900, James and his brother John wrote the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which later became the official anthem of the NAACP and has become known as the Black National Anthem. He also produced works such as God's Trombones (1927), a collection that celebrates the African American experience in the rural South and elsewhere, and the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912) — making him the first Black American author to treat Harlem and Atlanta as subjects in fiction.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed James Weldon Johnson to diplomatic positions in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Read More
In 1900, James and his brother John wrote the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which later became the official anthem of the NAACP and has become known as the Black National Anthem. He also produced works such as God's Trombones (1927), a collection that celebrates the African American experience in the rural South and elsewhere, and the novel The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912) — making him the first Black American author to treat Harlem and Atlanta as subjects in fiction.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed James Weldon Johnson to diplomatic positions in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Read More
FOSTERING BRASS CHAMBER MUSIC
The score and parts for Elam Sprenkle's The Creation, along with the entire ABQ music library, are available for research and performance through the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
For direct access to the Annapolis Brass Quintet Special Collection @ Oberlin
Tap Here
The score and parts for Elam Sprenkle's The Creation, along with the entire ABQ music library, are available for research and performance through the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
For direct access to the Annapolis Brass Quintet Special Collection @ Oberlin
Tap Here