Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_MAR_APR | Page 22

APPALACHIAN SPRING
leaving her family and all she knows
behind, as she is taken away to be
married to Gangadhar Rao.…It was
originally written in the Bhairavi mode,
with which I have created my own
lament. I have also composed my own
‘Powada’: a popular heroic or military
ballad, which was used to eulogize
heroic leaders. Again, there are many
examples of this form, but a common
musical thread is a declamatory delivery
of repeated single notes, followed by a
descending scale (for which I’ve used the
Bhairav, Purvi and Ãsãvan modes). We
finish, at the end of Lakshmibai’s life,
with a return to the Bhairavi lament.”
JD: “Across the Line of Dreams is in
three parts. The first section is devoted
to Harriet Tubman. There follows a
contrasting episode telling the story
of Rani Lakshmibai. Finally, we
imagine a dialogue showing the two
women’s similarities, differences and
inspirational natures.”
RP: “This is where the two conductors
come to the fore. Harriet’s music is in 4
beats and Lakshmibai’s simultaneously in
5. I was determined that while these two
women retained their unique musical
identities, they would merge to create a
driving energy.”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
RP: I am deeply grateful to Joseph
Kaminski for allowing me to use his
transcription of “Atoto wore sane” and to
the Asantehene who, through Kaminski,
authorized the use of this chant for
educational and artistic purposes. Also to
Justin Scarimbolo for 19 th -century Indian
music, Richard Williams & Richard
Widdess for their introduction to Powadas
and James Gardner for trying, heroically,
to teach me Ghanaian drumming. Thank
you, most of all, to Marin Alsop and
Valentina Peleggi for commissioning the
work, along with Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra. Jessica and I have loved every
step of this process.
—JD & RP, December 11, 2018
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OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org
ACROSS THE LINE OF DREAMS
Lines in bold are direct quotes from Harriet and Lakshmibai.
PART I – HARRIET TUBMAN
Araminta, Minty, Araminta, Minty….
Ignorant of freedom, neglected as a weed,
Araminta, Minty, finds her creed.
The Lord, my Lord, You never failed me,
Through liberty or death, I will never fail
Thee.
I don’t know where to go, I don’t know
what to do,
Guide me, o Lord, You’ll see me through.
Lord, my Lord, I hold steady onto You,
For the taste of freedom, You’ll see me
through.
My home, after all, was the old cabin
quarter
My home with the old folks, my sisters,
my brothers.
But one resolution I came to and held:
I shall be free now, they shall as well.
Araminta, Minty, hiding in the night,
Araminta, Minty, undercover flight.
Run, Araminta, don’t turn back,
Hearing the dogs, Minty, don’t turn back.
Torches in the woods, keep going,
keep going.
Shouting in the woods, keep going,
keep going.
Lord, my Lord, I hold steady onto You,
For the taste of freedom, You’ll see
me through.
We saw the lightning and that was
the guns,
Then we heard the thunder, big guns
ahead,
Then we heard the rain falling, that was
the blood falling
When we reaped the harvest, that was
the dead.
Araminta freed from the old days,
Harriet, mother’s name, mine for new ways.
Harriet rising, rising we grow,
Moses they call me - Let my people go!
Atoto wore sane…
How many thousands more could I save,
How many thousands, broken as slaves,
Go, then, my people, hold steady and true,
For the taste of freedom, the Lord will see
you through.
Atoto wore sane
PART II–RANI LAKSHMIBAI
OF JHANSI
Manikarnika, Manu, Manikarnika, Manu…
Waters of Mother Ganges,
Manikarnika growing.
Scent of jasmine mid gleaming
Mosaic mirrors – they’re weaving
Pearls in my hair, my wedding,
Manikarnika leaving,
Lakshmibai is my new name.
Sky of apricot heat-haze,
Manikarnika missing,
Ah, my horses, my garden,
Ah, my father, my brothers,
Left behind with my shed skin.
Lakshmibai for my Rajah
He has chosen my name.
Lakshmi, goddess of fortune,
Lakshmi, goddess of plenty,
Leaving childhood behind me,
Lakshmibai, the new Rani.
My husband, failing; my child, dying.
I am no mother, yet I have a son.
Damodar is mine, raising him to lift
The mantle from me, inherit the crown.
The British steal our rights away from us,
The British wreck our self-determined life,
The British rob my son, my throne,
my hope,
The British sear my land with fatal strife.
Tyranny breeds evil breeds tyranny…
Faithless cruelty and violence,
Mutiny against injustice,
I will not give up my Jhansi!
Hara, hara, Mahadev!
I am Durga, I am Kali,
Bloodied hands, invincible fire,
Time and life destroyed, returning,
Purging of eternal ire.
I am a force to free my people.
Hara, hara, Mahadev!
Young Englishman, sword raised and
blazing,
You know not you kill a queen.
Send my ashes back to mother Ganges,
Remember, my child, do not forget me.
Your Rani shall return to save your land,
Rani Lakshmibai – the bravest and the best.