''Scenes from the Life of a Martyr'' (1981), is a 16-part

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

composed by

Undine Smith Moore Undine Eliza Anna Smith Moore (25 August 1904 – 6 February 1989), the "Dean of Black Women Composers", was an American composer and professor of music in the twentieth century. Moore was originally trained as a classical pianist, but devel ...

in memory of

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

Moore wrote the

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

, which includes passages from the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

quotations A quotation is the repetition of a sentence, phrase, or passage from speech or text that someone has said or written. In oral speech, it is the representation of an utterance (i.e. of something that a speaker actually said) that is introduced by ...

and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

excerpts. It is written for a

mixed choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, with solo parts for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

, a spoken-word narrator, and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. The work takes about 40 minutes to perform and has sixteen different movements.

History

Smith began work on the composition in November 1975 and spent about four years working on it. Parts of ''Scenes'' were performed in 1979 by the Harry Savage Chorale and with Moore accompanying the choir by piano.

Orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

was done by Donald Rauscher, and the work on ''Scenes'' was completed by 1980. The score was published by Carl Fischer Publishing Company, who nominated it for a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

in 1981. The official premiere of the work was complicated by scheduling difficulties, so ''Scenes'' was performed first in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in December 1981. It was later performed at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

on January 15, 1982 and "officially" premiered by the

Richmond Symphony Orchestra The Richmond Symphony is based in Richmond, Virginia and is the largest performing arts organization in Central Virginia and one of the nation's leading regional orchestras. The organization includes a full-time orchestra with more than 70 musician ...

on April 19, 1982.

Story and composition

Moore's oratorio is meant to "comment on the private life of King," starting as far back as his childhood. The work is divided into four sections, each covering four different stages in King's life. The work starts out with the narrator's prologue and then segues into a contemporary-sounding movement which includes

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

rhythmic motives. In a similar way, the narrator "prepares" the listener for the next movements. The second section includes the first songs that Moore wrote and uses text from the Song of Solomon. The third section uses text from the gospel of Luke and then follows the "most memorable movements of the entire work," ''I Never Felt Such Love in My Soul Before''. The final movement includes a

lament A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...

and a climatic work, ''They Tell Me Martin Is Dead'', which eventually ends with "frenzied screams and moans." The final song is a chorale, ''Tell All My Father's People'', based on the spiritual, "Angels Waiting at the Door." Moore had stated that she chose to write ''Scenes'' "as a way to make tangible my feelings about Dr. King." She also felt that everyone could feel a sense of "kinship" with King. She also stated that she did not want to strive for a "consistency of style," but instead wanted the music to reflect his life at the time.

Critical response

Scenes received a good response from the public.

Will Crutchfield Will Crutchfield (born 1957) is an American conductor, musicologist, and vocal coach. He is the founding Artistic and General Director of Teatro Nuovo, a company that presented its inaugural season in the summer of 2018 at State University of Ne ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' felt that the score sounded like "background music for a documentary film," however, the finale was "suitably stirring."

Bernard Holland Bernard Holland (born 1933) is an American music critic. He served on the staff of ''The New York Times'' from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper. He then became the Nati ...

, also of ''The New York Times'', felt that ''Scenes'' could be compared to Krzysztof Penderecki's St. Luke Passion.

John Rockwell John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to '' Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ...

called Scenes "conservative."

References

External links

*
Scenes from the Life of a Martyr
' (Recorded 2004 in concert) Cultural depictions of Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorios 1981 oratorios {{Authority control

History

Story and composition

Critical response

See also

References

External links