Sing Freedom! African American Spirituals

Music/settings by Craig Hella Johnson, David Lang, Robert Kyr, Tarik O’Regan and others

Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson & Company of Voices

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Conspirare presents some of the beloved twentieth-century arrangements alongside some lesser known settings. Includes premiere recordings of new settings by important composers of our day: David Lang, Tarik O’Regan and an original composition by Robert Kyr based on African musical traditions. Settings by Craig Hella Johnson (CHJ) are also included.

Gramophone Review

Track Listing
  1. Motherless Child (arr. CHJ)
  2. A City Called Heaven (arr. Leonard de Paur)
  3. Soon Ah Will Be Done / I Wanna Die Easy (arr. CHJ)
  4. Soon Ah Will Be Done (arr. William L. Dawson)
  5. Hard Trials (arr. CHJ)
  6. Hold On (arr. Moses Hogan)
  7. Been in de Storm / Wayfaring Stranger (arr. CHJ)
  8. Oh Graveyard (Lay this Body Down) (arr. David Lang)
  9. Ain’-a That Good News! (arr. William L. Dawson)
  10. Steal Away (arr. Michael Tippett)
  11. Walk Together, Children (arr. Moses Hogan)
  12. I Got a Home in-a Dat Rock (arr. Moses Hogan)
  13. Lily of the Valley (arr. Wendell Whalum)
  14. Plenty Good Room (On the Glory Train) (Kirby Shaw)
  15. My God Is a Rock (arr. Alice Parker & Robert Shaw)
  16. Freedom Song (Robert Kyr)
  17. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (arr. Tarik O’Regan)Trac

Harmonia Mundi HMU 807525 – 72’07″

Recorded October 2010 at Sauder Concert Hall, Goshen, IN