Ethiopia Saluting the Colors [Song & Sheet Music]

James SchminckeUncategorized

Although he is best remembered for his arrangements of African American spirituals, such as “Deep River” (1917), Harry T. Burleigh also made significant contributions to the American art song. Composed during the height of his success, Burleigh’s “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors” (1915), to a text by Walt Whitman, is a dramatic account of an African American woman, or “Ethiopian” (by the mid-nineteenth century, “Ethiopians” had become synonymous with “Africans” in the Western world), and her chance meeting with a Union soldier.

“Ethiopia” is an old black slave woman who salutes the American flag as she sees General Sherman’s troops march by, all the while she herself is being watched by a soldier. The colors in her turban—yellow, red, and green—represent those found in the Ethiopian flag. Burleigh musically depicts the setting with a precise, militaristic accompaniment, and with the quotation of the Civil War tune, “Marching through Georgia”. One of Burleigh’s most ambitious songs and one he later orchestrated, “Ethiopia Saluting the Colors” is worthy of inclusion in today’s concert repertoire. | MORE

Score & Details

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Title
Ethiopia saluting the colors
Composer
Burleigh, H. T., 1866-1949
Poet
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892
Performers
Hampson, Thomas
Rieger, Wolfram
Recorded
The Coolidge Auditorium
(Library of Congress):
December 7, 2004.


From the MSR Archives
Collected from the Library of Congress | Link to Source

Breaking Bad & Walt Whitman [Television & Blog Post]

James SchminckeUncategorized

Excerpt from:
Walter White vs Walt Whitman

It is impossible to ignore the many mentions of Walt Whitman that one encounters on Breaking Bad. This, to many, may be dismissed as a mere reference to the initials they both share, but that gives little credit to the brilliance of the writers who have gifted us with this cunning tale. In order to dissect and put into proper perspective the meaning of the references to one of America’s greatest and most influential poets, it is important to first recount those instances we come upon them.

The first such mention occurs in the Episode entitled “Sunset,” which is the episode where we first encounter Walt’s new lab partner imposed upon him by Gus, Gale Boetticher. Walt and Gale begin to speak on their beginnings, and why they are now in the business of producing crystal meth. Gale thinks back to graduate school and explains, “I was on my way – jumping through hoops, kissing the proper behinds, attending to all the non-chemistry that one finds oneself occupied with. You know that world. That is not what I signed on for. I love the lab – because it’s all still magic, you know? Chemistry? I mean, once you lose that….”

Walt agrees. “It is. It is magic,” he says. “It still is.”

 

  • Breaking Bad
  • Original channel: AMC
  • Picture format:
    Original version:
    1080i (16:9 HDTV)
    Remastered version:
    4K (UHDTV)
  • Original release:
    January 20, 2008 – September 29, 2013

From the MSR Archives
Source | MSR’s YouTube Page