Prehistory

More than 11,000 years ago, the Tlingit settle in what is now Southeast Alaska

In 2007, Jan Gilbert writes In The Beginning for narrator and orchestra on Tlingit creation myths of Raven, using Glenn Walker's 1996 transcription of the story from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska.

 

c.750

The Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) begin settlement and construction in Mesa Verde, in what is now Colorado

In 1999, Karen Griebling writes Petroglyph Dances, Series II for tenor sax, viola, and piano, with six of the nine movements inspired by the rock carvings (petroglpyhs) left by the Ancestral Puebloan.

In 2005, Andrew William Thomas writes The Heroic Triad for guitar, percussion, and strings, partly inspired by Paul Horgan's 1994 book of the same name on histories and legends of New Mexican peoples.

In 2020, Michael Udow writes Echoes of the Past for his short film on Puebloan petrolpyh remnants on lightning-struck trees, accompanied by six percussionists, by orchestra, or by wind ensemble.
▶︎ YouTube

 

c.1000

The Potawatomi begin the arrival in the Great Lakes region

in 1980, Otto Luening writes Potawatomi Legends for chamber orchestra, and two years later a transformation of the work as Second Potawatomi Legends for solo flute. In 1995, Luening was induced as a member of the Potowatomi in a ceremony at his home on Riverside Drive in Manhattan.
▶︎ YouTube

The Navajo and Apache begin their migration from present-day Alaskan and north-western Canadian regions to the American Southwest area

In 1982, Glenn Lieberman writes Wedding Song: An Apache Prayer for soprano and piano.

In 1990, Ann Silsbee writes Come To Us for mixed choir and piano, based on text from Washington Matthews's 1897 book Navaho Myths, Prayers and Songs.

 

1492

Christopher Columbus makes landfall in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola

In 1975, Paul Zonn writes The Voyage of Columbus for Trumpet and Chamber Ensemble.

In 1992, Elias Tanenbaum writes Columbus for Large Orchestra and Pre-Recorded Audio.

 

1687

The first edition of The New England Primer is published by Benjamin Harris in Boston

In 2021, David Liptak writes The New England Primer for Soprano, Baritone, and Orchestra, based specifically on the 1727 and 1777 editions of The New England Primer.
▶︎ YouTube

 

1697

Hannah Duston is abducted by Abenaki members during the raid on Haverhill in Massachusetts Bay

In 2022, Lansing McLoskey writes The Captivity of Hannah Duston: A Chamber Opera
after texts by Cotton Mather (1702), John Greenleaf Whittier (1831), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1836), Henry David Thoreau (1849), and Sarah Josepha Hale (1851).
▶︎ YouTube

 

c.1700

The beginnings of the Comanche presence in the Great Plains

In 2010, David Yeagley writes Songs for Little Ones for Native American (or Concert Flute).

 

1758

The city of Pittsburgh is founded by General John Forbes

In 2009, Albert Glinsky writes the Allegheny Quartet for string quartet, commissioned by the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society in honor of the 250th anniversary of the city of Pittsburgh.
▶︎ YouTube

 

1775

The American revolution begins: Paul Revere's Ride

In 1975 (on America's 200th birthday), J. Willard Roosevelt writes Paul Revere's Ride for Solo Flute after the 1869 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
▶︎ YouTube

 

1776

The Declaration of Independence

In 2007, Jay Anthony Gach writes Fanfares of Revolution for Brass Quintet.
▶︎ Soundcloud

 

1782

Pennsylvania militia murder and scalp ninety-six Lenape in Ohio

In 2015, Christopher Shultis writes World's End Preludes for solo piano, on the history and trails of the Lenape in Pennsylvania.
▶︎ Soundcloud

 

1815

The Antebellum South slavery period begins

In 2002, T.J. Anderson writes Slavery Documents 2: Cantata for Soloists, Mixed Chorus, and Orchestra after Donald Sur's 1990 oratorio Slavery Documents, Loren Schweininger's 2008 collection The Southern Debate over Slavery, and petitions presented to the General Assemblies in the 1800s.

In 1984, H. Leslie Adams writes BLAKE: Grand Opera in Four Acts.
- Prelude to the Opera
- Full Score: Vol. 1 (Prelude and Act I)
- Full Score: Vol. 2 (Act 2, 3, and 4)
- Eighteen Selections from the Opera for Solo and Ensemble Voices with Piano
▶︎ YouTube

Arias and Solos from BLAKE
- O Sweet Jesus (Miranda's Prayer) for Soprano and Piano ▶︎ YouTube
- No, Sweet Mistress (Miranda's Arioso and Lullaby) for Soprano and Piano
- That Wild Fire (Isabella's Aria) for Mezzo-Soprano (or Soprano) and Piano ▶︎ YouTube
- My New-Found Friends (Blake's Aria) for Tenor and Piano
- I Come to This Place (Blake's Monologue) for Tenor and Piano
- Our Losses Will Be Great (Stevens's Aria) for Baritone and Piano

Duos and Trios from BLAKE
- She Stand There, Like Some Dark Angel (Recitative and Duet) for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, and Piano
- Oh John, My Love for Soprano, Tenor, and Piano
- I Hear Your Voice So Clearly for Soprano, Tenor, and Piano
- You Must Be Mad for Soprano, Bass-Baritone, and Piano
- Oh, Major, Major for 2 Sopranos, Bass-Baritone, and Piano

Choral Music from BLAKE
- Come Now, My People for Tenor Solo, SATB, and Piano
- Goin' Goin' for Tenor and Baritone Solo, SATB, and Piano
- Lawd, Send Your Holy Angel for SATB and 2 Pianos

 

1831

The Trail of Tears begins with the forced removal of the Choctaw from the present-day America South

In 1956, Paul A. Pisk writes Trail of Life: Cantata on Native American Poetry for Soloists, Choir, Narrator, and Piano.

 

1847

Maria Mitchell discovers comet C/1847 T1 ("Miss Mitchell's Comet") from the Pacific Bank building observatory in Nantucket

In 2013, David Liptak writes Eye that Directs a Needle for soprano, violin, and percussion
after the 1818-1889 journal of Maria Mitchell.

 

1851

Sojourner Truth gives her "Ain't I A Woman" speech at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio

In 1984, Dorothy Rudd Moore uses this speech for her One at a Time; Aria for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano from her opera on Frederick Douglass.

In 2001, Jay Anthony Gach writes Ain't I A Woman? for soprano and piano.

 

1852

Frederick Douglass gives his "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" speech in Rochester, New York

Dorothy Rudd Moore uses this speech for her Fourth of July Speech: Aria for Baritone and Piano from her opera on Frederick Douglass.
▶︎ YouTube

 

1853

Solomon Northup's memoir Twelve Years a Slave is published

In 1994, Michael Udow writes Twelve Years a Slave: An Opera in 2 Acts.
- Piano-Vocal Score
- Carnival Flashback for Cello and Double Bass
- Bayou Reflections for Orchestra
- Bayou Reflections for Wind Ensemble
▶︎ Soundcloud

 

1859

John Brown's raid at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia

In 1984, Dorothy Rudd Moore writes the Harpers Ferry Ballet for orchestra in her opera based on Frederick Douglass.

In 1990, Elizabeth Vercoe writes A Dangerous Man for baritone and piano after texts by John Brown, Thoreau, Frederick Douglass, Emerson, Lincoln, and others.

 

1861

The Civil War Begins