Costume rehearsal on March 24 for “A Knee on the Neck”. Front, from left: Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Chorale Piotr Gajewski, tenor Norman Shankle and baritone Kenneth Overton. Behind: The National Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, featuring members of The Washington Chorus and The Howard University Chorale.
Elman Studio / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
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Elman Studio / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
Costume rehearsal on March 24 for “A Knee on the Neck”. Front, from left: Mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, National Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Chorale Piotr Gajewski, tenor Norman Shankle and baritone Kenneth Overton. Behind: The National Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, featuring members of The Washington Chorus and The Howard University Chorale.
Elman Studio / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
The death of George Floyd nearly two years ago sparked protests across the US and around the world after a video was shared online showing a white police officer, since his conviction. murder, hugging a black man’s neck with his knee until he stopped breathing.
Composer Adolphus Hailstork and vocalist Herbert Martin, both in their 80s, joined forces to create an orchestral piece intended for a large choir and three soloists to pay their respects. homage to Floyd. It premiered on Saturday, March 28, at the Music Center in Strathmore, just outside Washington, D.C.
The piece, titled “A Knee on the Neck,” begins with a “command” that Black parents give their children: always do your best to avoid getting hurt, going to jail. or even killed. To return home in a piece. Martin and Hailstork both recall these stern commands from their own childhoods – which is part of why they’ve collaborated for three decades to create lyrical pieces inspired by people. Ordinary African Americans and historical figures.
“Every black family in America had to talk like this,” Martin recalls. “My mother simply said, ‘If you come downtown to do something for us, you have to do this, this and this and this. Because I don’t know what’s going to happen “…so all of that seems to be going well inside my mind.”
Reflecting on that experience requires something monumental, given the level of racial violence that has claimed the lives of countless people in America – Floyd, Emmett Till, Daunte Wright, Breonna Taylor. There are countless more.
Members of the National Philharmonic Chorale, The Washington Chorus and The Howard University Chorale rehearse the song “A Knee on the Neck” by Adolphus Hailstork and Herbert Martin.
Kyle Schick / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
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Kyle Schick / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
Members of the National Philharmonic Chorale, The Washington Chorus and The Howard University Chorale rehearse the song “A Knee on the Neck” by Adolphus Hailstork and Herbert Martin.
Kyle Schick / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
“That’s the scale of the topic that Herb gave me. It’s a big topic,” Hailstork said. We are talking about taking a life, taking many lives and the common cultural attitudes we have. There is a small point in the text, Herb says that there is a virus that is attacking people and killing people and it is very well done. Of course, people will think about omicrons or something like that. But no, the virus is the virus of hate and murder in our culture. This is a big topic… That’s a very impressive point because he gave me a dramatic piece of work. “
There’s a raucous opening sequence that evokes bustling Minneapolis, descriptions of African drums, the black spirit of “O Freedom,” slurs pounding in Floyd’s final words “I can’t.” breathing”, the stillness of death and, finally, a hymn of hope.
Dr Adolphus Hailstork, composer of “A Knee on the Neck”, poses for a photo during a dress rehearsal on March 24.
Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
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Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
Dr Adolphus Hailstork, composer of “A Knee on the Neck”, poses for a photo during a dress rehearsal on March 24.
Yassine El Mansouri / Elman Studio / Courtesy of the National Philharmonic
In addition to its own choir, the National Philharmonic will feature the Washington Chorus, Howard University Chorale, along with black soloists J’Nai Bridges, Norman Shankle and Kenneth Overton.
“It’s important that you keep those things in mind,” Martin said, “so you don’t repeat these things over and over again. I think that’s one of the important things that I want people to remember and to do. pass on this memory as they did to their loved ones, to their families, to their friends.”
The work ends on a note of hope, a vision of a more perfect union where Americans of all backgrounds and creeds live in harmony.
“You could say, you could say, that there was a moment of universal, not clenched, outstretched hand clasping in the hope that there would be a greater sense of peace and respect between all Americans.”
