Purchase: Score+parts available at American Composers Alliance

Program Note:
In Antebellum America, African American slaves would sing many spirituals each day to communicate secret messages and to help keep strength to continue on. One well-known spiritual “Wade in the Water” literally meant that the slaves would need to get in the water to escape and find their way to freedom. One of my favorite lines from this spiritual is “God’s a-gonna trouble the water”, which meant that God would make the change and set his children free.

I felt that change when I was looking into my ancestry to write this piece. I originally wanted to write my own version of “Wade in the Water”, but as the music progressed, a part of me wanted to express a deeper realization—discovery of a newfound self.