Orchestra, Arrangement Ashley Killam Orchestra, Arrangement Ashley Killam

Spirituals of H.T. Burleigh, for orchestra

Instrumentation: orchestra (2.1.2.2.1/2.2.3.1/perc/hp/str)

Year Composed: 2019


Originally composed for voice and piano by Harry T. Burleigh.

Program Notes:

This arrangement is a suite of orchestrations of Harry T. Burleigh’s versions of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Chil’,” “Deep River,” and “Ain’t Goin’ to Study War No Mo’” (also known as “Down by the Riverside”). While the first two are transcriptions, the third song incorporates elements of  New Orleans Jazz in my own variation/arrangement before returning to Burleigh’s.

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Orchestra, Arrangement Ashley Killam Orchestra, Arrangement Ashley Killam

Precious Lord, for orchestra

Instrumentation: orchestra (2.2.2.1/1.0.0.1/timp/hp/str)

Year Composed: 2020

Duration: 3’15”


Originally composed for choir by Thomas Dorsey.

Program Notes:

Precious Lord, Take My Hand was originally written by Thomas Dorsey. The lyrics were written in his despair after his wife and newborn child died during childbirth. It communicates the need of having God when things go wrong. 

This arrangement for a modified symphony orchestra relies on the harp and flute for much of its character. It features the french horn, tuba, and bassoon. There are elements emulating the hammond organ improvising and accompanying a sermon or prayer session in traditional Black churches.

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Orchestra, Arrangement Ashley Killam Orchestra, Arrangement Ashley Killam

In the Bottoms: Introduction and Juba Dance, for orchestra

Instrumentation: orchestra

Year Composed: 2022


Originally composed for piano by R. Nathaniel Dett. Arrangement commissioned by the Black Composer Revival Consortium

Premiered October 2022

Program Notes:

In the Bottoms was written originally for piano by Robert Nathaniel Dett in 1913. This five-movement suite is meant to depict “negro life in the river bottoms.” For this arrangement, I took the introduction from the first and second movements of the piece, “Prelude (Night)” and “His Song.” The “Juba Dance'' is the last movement of the piece.

According to Wikipedia, the juba dance is an “African-American style of dance that involves stomping as well as slapping and patting the arms, legs, chest, and cheeks.” Typically, the dancers would form a circle to keep the rhythm and a solo dancer could get in the middle. Percussion instruments were often not allowed to be used by the slaves for fear of secret communication, so body percussion took their place. In the piece, the ostinato accompaniment line would be the equivalent of the rhythmic stomping and patting or clapping that would have taken place in a juba dance circle, while the melody would be sung or played on a fiddle.

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