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"Great Day" Ode, by Jacqueline Hairston

Jacqueline Hairston

“Great Day” Ode, composed in 1991, is a joyful and effective piece that weaves three African-American Spirituals together: “Great Day,” “Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley,” and “Every Time I Feel the Spirit.” Starting with an introduction in multiple key areas, it begins with a rhythmic and more upbeat spiritual. After exploring some tonal areas with tempo fluctuation and a brief Chopin-like flourish, the second spiritual enters with a slower and freer tempo. Then, the melody of this Spiritual is restated in the tenor voice played by LH with brilliant RH arpeggios decorating the texture. The third Spiritual that follows offers a more rhythmic and forward-moving drive that finally leads to the climax of the work, featuring continuous octaves and dense chords in opposing registers. The most virtuosic passages presented include rapid, parallel octaves, glissandi, and arpeggios. These virtuosic passages conclude the entire piece in an extremely satisfying fff with broadened register.

With plenty of octaves, jumps and quick arpeggios, the piece can be categorized as "advanced" in terms of level of pianistic difficulty. It sounds quintessentially American, and is a great example of very effective and imaginative writing anchored in the American sprituals tradition that can result attractive to a wide range of tastes. 

Dr. Jacquline Hairston was born in 1932 in Charlotte, North Carolina. She is a prolific composer who mastered various genres from spirituals to contemporary art songs. She has earned two “Living Legend Awards” and “Howard Thurman Award”, and holds degrees from the Juilliard School, Howard University in Washington, D.C., and Columbia University. As a pianist and vocal coach herself, her works often display lyric vocal virtuosity, and weave spirituals that flow smoothly into one another. She has dedicated her life to preserving American spirituals.

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Performed by Er-Hsuan Li.

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