Chicago a cappella sings spirituals

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Chicago a cappella

Updated: February 1, 2012 4:26PM

“Wade in the Water” is the name of one of the more well-known African-American spirituals, and it is also the title of the latest concert from Chicago a cappella.

Chicago a cappella performs at 8 p.m. Feb. 4 at Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College, and at 4 p.m. Feb. 12 at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Oak Park.

Some of the selections will be familiar to those who frequent Chicago a cappella concerts; others are brand new, said director Jonathan Miller.

“The most exciting thing about this program from a new music point of view is that we have several world premieres on this program,” he said.

New work

Grammy Award-winning arranger Joseph Jennings, former music director of the men’s choral group Chanticleer, was commissioned to do a new piece for these concerts.

“We have a long history with his work because at our very first concert, we did his arrangement of ‘Steal Away,’ which was a staple of our repertoire for the first 10 years or so,” Miller said. “He’s been a colleague of ours. We’ve done several of his other pieces. When we looked to who we wanted to commission for these concerts, he was at the top of the list. He was available, he said yes, and he wrote us this absolutely beautiful arrangement of ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.’ It’s very slow and very beautiful. He really has a touch for the slow stuff. It’s an interesting text because it’s a text of sorrow, but there’s also this ‘Glory.’ The choir will also perform Jennings’ “Way Over in Beulah Lan’.”

Miller’s new cycle, Old Testament Spirituals, also receives its world premiere at this concert.

“The first piece is very short. It’s a narration of ‘Little David, Play on Your Harp.’ All four of the spirituals in this cycle are based on Old Testament stories. The first one is very sweet. The second one is a much longer piece called ‘Daniel, Moses, Joshua,’ and I love this piece. It’s a layering of ‘Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?’, ‘Go Down, Moses’ and ‘Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.’ I was able to make a piece that involves all three tunes in really unusual ways. It’s a big piece; very effective. I think people will really like it.”

Song variety

There will be about 20 songs in the 90-minute program, he said, including composer Robert Morris’ “I’m Tired, Lord” and “Save Me, Lord”; Nathaniel Dett’s “Walk Togedder, Childron”; and Oak Park composer Paul Carey’s arrangement of “Blin’ Man.”

The two pieces by Robert Morris are half-spiritual and half-gospel, Miller said.

“Robert Morris often lived in that zone in between spirituals and gospel music and I find him exciting, for that reason,” he said. “He’s really unconventional. His harmonies are a little on the complicated side, but they really work. He was an arranger for Duke Ellington.”

Other featured artists include Jester Hairston, Moses Hogan, Marques Garrett and Lela Anderson.

Spirituals are a distinctly American form of music that is easily accessible, he said.

“There are a lot of people who say that the true American music is the spiritual, even more than jazz,” he said. “It is easy to absorb and has an immediate emotional impact. These are stories everyone can relate to. They are stories of hope, of suffering, the demand for justice and looking for a better world, and the music is absolutely gorgeous.”