Page 72 - CJOct25

Choral Review
Choral Review

their names, white silence equals violence, Section 1: The Meditation
the violence of again, a militarized police The opening section of Weather depicts a storm ap-
force teargassing, bullets ricochet, and civil proaching in the distance brought to life by a thunder
unrest taking it, burning it down. Whatever sheet that crescendos from piano to forte over a twenty-sev-
contracts keep us social compel us now en-bar intro. Not only do these first measures set the
to disorder the disorder. Peace. We’re out scene for the “storm” and melodic theme, they also
to repair the future. There’s an umbrella serve as the second numerical reference to George
by the door, not for yesterday but for the weather Floyd—the first being the opening tempo marking of
that’s here. I say weather but I mean 46 bpm (his age at the time of his death) and the be-
a form of governing that deals out death ginning twenty-seven measures referring to the number
and names it living. I say weather but I mean of times Floyd said, “I can’t breathe,” while under the
a November that won’t be held off. This time police officer’s knee.
nothing, no one forgotten. We are here for the storm This subset in the opening section is reflective and
that’s storming because what’s taken matters. mimics the style of a traditional march. The melodic

theme, based in E major, stems from a traditional Afri-
“Weather” Copyright © 2020 by Claudia Rankine. can spiritual Stand the Storm, which shares many similar-
Quoted in full text with permission of the author. ities with Rankine’s poem’s themes of “remembrance,
All rights reserved. resistance, and resilience in the pursuit of social jus-
tice.”
6
Dilworth comments in the Composer’s Notes that The march-like style continues in accompanying
the title immediately resonated with him as a “con- instruments as vocalists enter in measure 28 with the
tranym” (a word with contradictory meaning), and he text of the poem: “on a scrap of paper in the archive
saw how he could create music that would not “detract is written.” This eighteen-bar section features heavily
from such a powerful and multi-dimensional sequenc- layered voices and strict rhythms in percussion. From
4
ing of words.” The word “weather” has several defini- this texture blooms a very intense invitation into the
tions: to withstand, to wear away, and the state of the next musical style.
5
atmosphere at a place and time. In both the poem and Measures 46–74 bring a new style into the piece
piece for choir, wind ensemble, and piano, all three of reminiscent of classical and gospel music. As Dilworth
these definitions can be found in subtle ways, showing begins the transition into the next section, chords and
the complexity of the art and the context that served as rhythms begin to deconstruct, layer, and reconstruct
the composer’s inspiration. themselves before firmly landing in G major at mea-
sure 75.

Musical Analysis Section 2: The Marginalization
Dilworth breaks down this eighteen-minute work In this section, Dilworth writes a twelve-bar blues ac-
into six distinct sections: The Mediation, The Margin- companiment to a spectacular vocal display. The music
alization, The Memorial, The Meltdown, The March, transports the listener to a time where the blues were
and The Mobilization. Each of these sections rep- rising in popularity as a secular music style—the 1920s,
resents the stages of a social movement, signifying the where “African Americans faced poverty, discrimina-
entire body of the piece as a reflection of the section tion, and an overall diminished quality of life…. It
title’s course of action. Each section has its own char- seemed appropriate to set this portion of the poem in a
acter that builds off the section prior both harmonically blues style, for the words reflect elements of a dark past
and stylistically, implying that each stage of a move- that continue to linger in the present.” 7
ment needs the others to flourish. While all the text in this section is important, one
line stands out in relation to the style of music: “just us,
and the blues, kneeling on a neck with the full weight

70 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2025 Volume 66 Number 3