'SWING LOW, SWEET CHARIOT', from 'Five Folksongs in Counterpoint | Florence B. Price

Apollo Chamber Players presents 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,' the fifth movement of Florence Beatrice Price's 'Five Folksongs in Counterpoint.' Composed in 1951 towards the end of her life, the piece is a wonderful testament to Price's gift for composition and affection for the folksongs and spirituals of her ancestors. 'Five Folksongs' was found in the University of Arkansas Library in manuscript (score only) form and has since been edited and published by Apollo.

"It is commonly thought that the lyrics of this spiritual, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, coming for to carry me home,” refers both to the Underground Railroad, the freedom movement that helped blacks escape from Southern slavery to the North and Canada and, alternatively, to the slaves escape from slavery through death and heaven’s deliverance. Dramatically, Price gives to solo cello the weighty tune. It is then treated in turn by the viola, violin II and finally violin I. Ultimately, the tune is given contrapuntal and rhapsodic treatment during which the spiritual is obscured completely. The movement concludes with an expansive rendition of the well-known tune, sometimes suggesting the minor mode, but triumphantly ending in the major key."

Note by: Rae Linda Brown, Ph.D. Associate Provost, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California

The entire work is featured on Apollo's album 'Blurred Boundaries,' to be released in April 2016 on Parma Recordings.

www.apollochamberplayers.org

Audio: Ryan Edwards, Coincident Sound
Video: Ben Doyle, Runaway Productions
Filmed at Clarion Performing Arts Center, Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, TX.