Page 36 - CJSept24

William L. Dawson’s Legacy of Care

Choir might convey to audiences, Dawson cared about Dawson interpolates a series of “hallelujahs” be-
the message his music sent to his students. And just tween the two lines, evoking the singing and shouting
as the spirituals had different meanings for those who of the congregation. Surprisingly, the interpolation
first created and sang them than for white people who evokes not the texture and energy of a Black congrega-
might hear them, his arrangements do their most im- tion, but rather a late Baroque piece such as Handel’s
portant communicating in the shelter of the rehearsal “Hallelujah Chorus.” Additionally, Dawson abruptly
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space. Striking evidence of their inward orientation shifts key during this brief passage from B major to
lies in the subtle way these works engage with Euro- D major, the key of the famous “Hallelujah.” The al-
pean classical music. lusion to Handel is sufficiently subtle that it is easily
Dawson acquired great skill in European contrapun- (and routinely) overlooked, but Dawson undoubtedly
tal techniques through his extensive formal education in highlighted the connection in rehearsal, and his regular
composition, and he loved and frequently programmed programming of the “Hallelujah” chorus would have
polyphonic works by Tomás Luis de Victoria, George made it a familiar work to his students.
Frideric Handel, and others. Although his spiritual ar- By not actually quoting Handel’s famous work,
rangements frequently employ polyphonic textures, Dawson avoids eliciting a laugh from audiences,
they do not strike the ear as Baroquifying folk music which he never sought to do with any spiritual. As he
(so to speak). Dawson knew, both from childhood ex- wrote, “It cannot be stressed too strongly that these
periences of spirituals and from attentive listening as songs should never be sung for the expressed purpose
an adult, that richly textured, multi-part singing was of amusing or even entertaining the hearer. There is
part of African American folk practice. That tradition’s nothing humorous in the sentiments expressed by the
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numerous individual parts, ostinati, and call-response words or rhythms of the music.” Moreover, his allu-
structures formed a natural bridge to Dawson’s sensi- sion allows him to appropriate Handelian style without
tive incorporation of European contrapuntal tech- drawing a startling contrast between European and
niques. From the graceful imitative polyphony of There African American music, as a direct quote would un-
Is a Balm in Gilead to the ecstatic whirling of Ezekiel Saw avoidably do. Dawson fervently believed that spirituals
de Wheel, the composer deploys his formal training in had a place in the American concert hall, whether in
service of the text, mood, and history of the original arrangements or through their incorporation in pieces
folk songs. In addition, the musicianship fostered by like his own Negro Folk Symphony. In none of his com-
polyphonic passages in his arrangements helped his positions does he seek to contrast spirituals with other
students to perform a wide variety of music. musical genres or styles.
More basically, Dawson’s scores were no less de- Dawson was deeply concerned with developing his
tailed or specific than those of European composers. students’ knowledge, and his students would have un-
Because the Tuskegee Institute Choir performed both, derstood the many differences between their enslaved
students could see the similarity, and Dawson’s insis- ancestors’ music and the European canon. He taught
tence on fidelity to the markings in the score (whether them about the historic origins of the spirituals, their
his or another composer’s) drove the point home. Since religious content, and their ongoing significance; he
audience members don’t typically follow the score, this also taught them about European classical music. But
message is only for the singers. in his spiritual arrangements, Dawson showed the
To my mind, Ezekiel Saw de Wheel contains the most equality and compatibility of these musical traditions.
delightful example of internal communication in Daw- He gave his students what they needed to succeed in
son’s choral music. In the third verse of his arrange- an American society that told them that African dia-
ment, the text reads: sporic culture was inferior to European, and that Eu-
ropean culture was off limits to them. His compositions
Some go to church for to sing an’ shout showed them how to excel as classical musicians while
Before six months dey’s all turn’d out treasuring the richness of their Black heritage. Dawson

34 CHORAL JOURNAL September 2024 Volume 65 Number 2