For its 2010 gala on Saturday, October 2, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will offer what may qualify as the African-American collaboration of the year: a world premiere of a new musical composition by Wayne Shorter that incorporates the poetry of Maya Angelou. That is perhaps the most important living African-American composer scoring almost undeniably the most important living African-American poet – backed by the one of the world’s greatest orchestras, with the beloved soprano Renée Fleming carrying the tune.
Even by the mile-high musical standards of musical director David Robertson, this is an incomparable gift to our community. Cocktails at Powell Hall start at 6 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the show at 7 p.m. and more drinks, dinner and dancing to follow off-site for those who go for the whole gala.
The jazz legend Wayne Shorter spoke to The St. Louis American about the premiere of his New Work for Soprano and Orchestra, which incorporates excerpts from Maya Angelou’s poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” which Angelou read at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration in 1993.
On working with David Robertson
I worked with him three times, at least, when he was director of Orchestre National de Lyon. Then we worked with him when he opened one of the seasons in St. Louis, a season opener; after my piece, he did Brahms and stuff like that. He said he would do whatever came his way at an appropriate time in the future, so now is the future.
I know the event is a sit-down dinner, black tie, all that stuff – basically a fundraising gala kind of thing. Rene had already been slated to appear on that date, and it was her desire to do something, to add something unheard to the program, to that evening, this gala, that gala about life, humanity – to add an upbeat contribution, another upbeat contribution to the word “gala.”
The other music that night, you won’t hear of any dirges, anything like that. It will be a happy occasion, it is all a positive interaction musically, no downers.
On the Maya Angelous poem
This music will have a libretto. We’ve been given permission by Dr Maya Angelou’s literary agent and herself to use excerpts from one of her poems, the poem she read during Bill Clinton’s inaugural. It incorporates excerpts of her poem “On the Pulse of Morning.”
I was there when she read her poem at the Clinton inagural. It hit me: “Wait a minute, she is talking about something parallel to the essence of what I am talking about.” Something new. A new beginning. It seemed appropriate to try to get permission to use excerpts of this lengthy poem. So I used some excerpts.
On working with Renée Fleming
With that voice she has, mmmm, her voice – no way you can seek an elevator going down. She is an elevator voice going up.
This is not music I had written in the past, it won’t be a collage of jazz or medley of jazz. These are things tailored to her voice, a whole new piece. We’ve done most of the tailoring or rehearsing on the telephone. She was on tour all the time I was working on this, or I was on tour.
She actually requested a new piece at the very beginning. I remember her words: “Would you write something for me? Write anything.” When somone says “anything,” you pull out all the stops.
You might say it’s a tone poem with vocals. Essentially, it’s a work in progress. I may be adding a choral or more voices. It could fall between a tone poem and oratorio, somwhere in there, or something completely new, something that has to do with dealing with the unexpected. Seems like the whole world is involved now with a new way to deal with the unexpected, a new way to dialogue, dialoguing on a more altruistic level of consciousness.
On the inaugural poem in election season
We’re not alluding to the elections. Her poem to me is global, inclusive, speaking to the whole world in such great poetry. There’s nothing that favors anything that is looming over us electorally, especially in the U.S. It’s a global umbrella over all of humanity, looking at all of us as neighbors, neighbor to neighbor kind of thing.
The poem starts in the dinosaur period coming forth to the present day into the future – nature, humanity – that’s why we do excerpts from the poem. No matter where you start, it’s talking about dawn over the horizon, what’s going to be ahead, how we reach the unexpected as humanity has never greeted the unexpected before.
As you might say, there’s the rub: the great mystery about the future. Maybe doing something as human beings we have never done before. It’s better than sighting UFOs and all that stuff. We have become more mysterious than extra-terrestrial sightings. We have become the biggest mysteries.
Gala ticket packages are now on sale starting at $750 for a combined ticket to the concert and seated dinner. Individual concert-only tickets ($55-$150) are also on sale & will be sold through the box office at 314-534-1700 or visiting www.stlsymphony.org.
