James Scott Balentine

Baritone and Cello

Composer's Note:

"Five Spirituals" for baritone voice and cello was written in 1997 at the request of baritone Timothy Jones and cellist Judith VanderWeg, who at the time were my faculty colleagues at the University of Texas at San Antonio. As I recall, Timothy handed me a somewhat tattered and well-worn book of spirituals and let me choose which to set, with no restrictions other than that they were for Timothy and Judith - which meant no technical restrictions at all.

The set intentionally includes a pair of lesser-known but inspiring spirituals with three more familiar tunes, all incorporating elements of jazz harmonies and subtle swing. My hope was to maintain the traditional spiritual content of the music in a more modern context, and including hints of the musical personality of these two friends. An afterthought - following the premiere performance, Timothy and Judith, quietly in the dead of night, brought an elegant yard sculpture to my very new house in the Texas Hill Country as a surprise to thank me for the music - it still stands in front of the house today, a reminder of our musical collaboration years ago, and a symbol of the timeless spiritual quality of these melodies.