Item Number: IG.VMS151
Songs for the People is an SATB setting of a poem by the African-American poet, novelist and teacher, Frances E.W. Harper (1825-1911). Harper's parents were freed slaves and Harper devoted much of her life to the abolitionist movement and to what she called "a brighter day" - civil rights for African-Americans and women. Her poem "Songs for the People" illustrates her message of positive social change and foreshadows the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. My setting of Songs for the People reflects the rugged, sturdy, yet tender "Americana style" of her day. It was commissioned by the Freudig Singers of Western New York in 2008 in honor of the ensemble's 25th anniversary in 2009. They premiered the work at their gala 25th anniversary concert. (Duration: 3:30).
