Theme and Variations on "Draw the Sacred Circle"

Theme and Variations on "Draw the Sacred Circle"

Black composer Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork III's compositional style blends musical ideas from both the African American and European traditions.

The publisher's website shares the following notes on Theme and Variations "Draw the Sacred Circle": "Cello is the perfect instrument to showcase through this fascinating set of variations on a theme of universal unity. The cello's range and tone evoke the baritone voice, and its facility in contrapuntal playing allows for polyphony in the manner of Bach's cello suites. The theme (sounding like a spiritual) is actually the final chorus of the composer's "Earthrise," a profoundly bold cantata using Schiller's "Ode to Joy" as text, and full of allusions to all four movements of Beethoven's ninth symphony. Hailstork's "Earthrise" features a festival chorus singing in German, alternating with an African-American chorus singing in English with vernacular verve. The choruses ultimately unite to end the cantata together with "Draw the Sacred Circle Closer," a translation of lines from Schiller's "Ode to Joy." For advanced cellists."

Duration: 10.5 minutes

Hailstork, Adolphus (b. 1941)

Adolphus Hailstork (personal website), https://www.adolphushailstork.com/

Adolphus Hailstork (Wikipedia), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolphus_Hailstork

Adolphus Hailstork, Theme and Variations on 'Draw the Sacred Circle Closer' (score), https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/theme-and-variations-on-draw-the-sacred-circle-closer-sheet-music/19952311

Kristen Yeon-Ji Yun, "Adolphus Hailstork Theme and Variation on Draw the Sacred Circle Closer" (YouTube), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpEnNxlMiIg&ab_channel=KristenYeon-JiYun

Theodore Presser Company

2009

10-20 minutes

2000-

cello / violoncelle

solo