LANGSTON DREAMS to be RELEASED SUMMER/FALL 2022!
Gentry Publications: High Voice (JG0745)/ Low Voice (JG0746)
LANGSTON DREAMS is a cycle of three songs, setting poems by Langston Hughes on the subject of hopeful dreams. In addition to the subject matter, the songs are related using “dream motives” (sixteenth-note patterns in the piano accompaniment). Langston Dreams is composed in ABA form. The first and third songs (Hold Fast to Dreams and I Dream a World) are composed in major keys, with faster tempos, and with contrasting perspectives juxtaposed. The second song, To Sit and Dream, is composed in a minor key with a slower tempo, expressing one main idea. Hold Fast to Dreams and I Dream a World are to be performed with vigor and excited passion while To Sit and Dream is more intimate and contemplative. All the songs employ lyrical vocal lines, jazz harmonies and syncopated rhythms.
The work is dedicated to J. Warren Mitchell, tenor and Jan McDaniel, piano. I hope that you enjoy their performances below!
(136) J. Warren Mitchell sings “To Sit And Dream” by Rosephanye Powell – YouTube
(136) J. Warren Mitchell sings, “I Dream A World” by Rosephanye Powell – YouTube