Ride Vanqui Ride Analysis

On February 2nd, Gwynedd Mercy University held an event in the Julia Ball Auditorium featuring Leslie Burrs in the Blue Harlem Project. Featured was the University’s choral ensemble, the Voices of Gwynedd, combined with phenomenal Jazz musicians to celebrate and honor Black History Month. Each artist performed with their own style which really added to the diversity of the event. The program consisted of eight compositions all composed by Leslie Savoy Burrs himself. Each one of these pieces reflects his collaborations with eminent American/African American artists in the fields of literature, music, art, and psychology. Leslie Savoy Burrs is known for being an award-winning performer, composer, and educator who has worked with many renown
Leslie Burrs worked with John A. Williams, a renown African American author to create this the Opera known as Vanqui. The Opera is about an African princess named Vanqui and a prince who were madly in love, but their lives changed for the worst when they were forced to come to America to be slaves. The two were separated and cruelly murdered: her husband refused to live the life of a slave and was killed and Vanqui was poisoned by her slave owner’s wife. After their deaths, the two are resurrected as spirits who ride the wind searching for each other and for the Baobab tree. The song, “Ride Vanqui Ride” starts out loud, or forte, including the Voices of Gwynedd, bass, piano, and the vocalist. There is quite a bit of dissonance and one can really hear the piano play staccato. The choir comes in and out with the vocalist emphasizing the lyrics “Ride Vanqui Ride” portraying the word painting in a way that the audience can picture Vanqui riding through the wind trying to find her true love. There is a large crescendo and then the music comes to an
The saxophone, violin, bass, flute, and piano all played together; however, the bass was clearly the most dominant instrument. The rhythm was a bit dissonance or staccato and consisted of a great deal of syncopation. There were also many sequences with repeated melodies. The flute played many arpeggios and trills.The next song played was one that almost everyone in the room can relate to and was titled “When the Hidden Becomes Known”. It sounded doubtful or nervous for the future. At the very beginning, there is a recitative and it sounds like the vocalist is almost talking to the audience. This piece is played at a moderate tempo and sounds very legato. There was no improvisation coming from the vocalist and she sang with a very consonance melody which one could clearly hear it move in