This Sunday’s musical selections invite us to ponder centered and marginalized artistic legacies, including the work of Unitarian composers Edvard Grieg and Béla Bartók. Dead white European men may dominate the musical canon, but the music of Margaret Bonds and Scott Joplin remind us of the abundant contributions of women composers and composers of African descent. Born in Guadeloupe in 1739, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the subject of a recent Hollywood biopic, created a sensation at the French court of Marie Antoinette, where he was sometimes labeled “the black Mozart.” Finally, the late Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sunday in the Park with George suggests that artists may have the final word in shaping our perceptions of history. Read on for more programming details.
Gathering Music: Adam Kent, piano
Once Upon a Time, Op. 71, No. 1 ~ Edvard Grieg
Rumanian Dances ~ Béla Bartók
Dance with Sticks · Waistband Dance · On the Spot · Hornpipe · Rumanian Polka · Quick Dance
Musical Reflection #1:
Tangamerican ~ Margaret Bonds
Musical Reflection #2:
Adagio in F Minor ~ Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Offertory:
“Sunday” from Sunday in the Park with George ~ Stephen Sondheim
Postlude:
The Easy Winners ~ Scott Joplin