| Soprano Christine Brewer records John Carter's "Cantata" |
| Monday, 21 July 2008 | |
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Recently, I emailed soprano Christine Brewer regarding her recording of John Carter's Cantata. Dear Ms. Brewer, This was her response:
Thanks so much for your note, and I'm happy to talk about John Carter's Cantata. Several years ago, I was preparing to do a recital disc for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis (St. Louis Woman). My goal was to find music either about St. Louis or by St. Louis-born composers. This is how I found out about John Carter. There is very little information available about Carter other than his birth date and birth place. He was for a time the composer in residence for the National Symphony in Washington, DC. He seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth in the 80's, but there is no real information concerning his death. Perhaps he is still living, but I don't think he is. So this was initially how I came across John Carter's name. I bought a copy of Cantata and started studying the work. There was great appeal to me, because of the songs he chose to set in the cycle. These were songs that I had grown up singing. My mom was an amateur singer who primarily sang pop, gospel, jazz with a couple other women. She also sang with my brothers and me in our church. Carter set these songs in the 1960's and perhaps his choice of "Ride on King Jesus" as the final song was his expression concerning the Civil Rights movement. I love the way he sets the end of the song with the repeat of the words ... "no man, no man, no man (7 times repeated) can a hinder me" There is a strength and conviction in the way he set that music that is very appealing to me. I have always programmed settings of spirituals in my recitals, and have had great success doing so. I love Burleigh's settings, and also Hall Johnson. I do a Margaret Bond arrangement of "He's Got the Whole World in his Hand" for encores quite often. In fact, after the war started in Iraq, whenever I was asked to sing "God Bless America," I would offer instead Bond's arrangement of "He's Got the Whole World." I think in this day and age and with the state of things in the world, this song is much more appropriate and speaks from my heart. Most of my audiences, especially in the UK are predominately white. I find their response to the spirituals I sing very positive, and the reviews have always been favorable. I think this comes from the way that I invest myself I the songs and the texts. Of course, this is the way I approach everything that I sing ... the texts are very important and until I can sing the words from my heart in a way that has spoken to me, then I'm not ready to sing them to an audience in a meaningful way. I choose the majority of my recital literature from the poetry and the power of the words. I am interested and will continue to perform music by composers of African descent. (I'm performing Carter's Cantata at Stoney Brook University in South Hampton in a recital on August 14.) Friends are always suggesting things and sending me things to look at. I've got an original song cycle by Burleigh at home that I will look at when I have a little time at home to do so. And I agree with you that the interracial dialogue is extremely important, and does benefit us all! And I'm also happy for you to use things from this e-mail on your web site. If you have any other questions, comments or suggestions of repertoire, I'm always open for any of those things! Best wishes,
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