Variations on “Lift Every Voice and Sing”

Program Note: "The piece begins with an introduction like one would hear in a church hymn, which uses a phrase from the theme and ends with a fermata. The theme is a simple and contrapuntal statement of the melody.

Variation one is slower than the theme, with 16th-note embellishments in the right hand that weave above and below the melody line. This section could be potentially difficult to voice. The first variation is romantic sounding, and has sixths and large leaps within chords. About halfway through the variation it becomes suddenly quiet and static, and then there is a pattern in the right hand that sounds like French impressionist music, especially when it is harmonized in thirds. Still within the first variation, the tempo changes to “tempo 1,” the tempo of the theme, and then more romantic accompaniment patterns ensue. The closing notes of the introduction are clearly stated as a transition between all variations. 

The second variation is marked “playfully,” and right away there are two note slurs on everything in the right hand, with the first notes of the slur being a minor second. This is harmonically, shocking, especially after the romantic sounding first variation, and requires the performer to have enough stylistic variety in their playing to make this shift convincing. It moves away from the extreme dissonance a few bars later, with mostly major seconds, and then becomes “Dreamy (with rubato),” until it changes keys to a minor mode. Eight bars before the third variation, Alston introduces a syncopated rhythm still in the character of the minor section, but foreshadowing the next variation. 

The third and last variation is heavily syncopated, with octaves in the middle/high register and accented pickup notes that give it a distinctly ragtime sound. This also presents stylistic challenges for students who are not used to playing ragtime. Surprisingly, right before the last page, material from the first variation returns in its original form, going back to the romantic sound, which ties these very different sections together. It is not until the second to last bar that a syncopated gesture returns to close the piece. 

The length of these variations and the large jumps in the hand make it quite difficult, but it is also a fascinating piece because the variations start with a simple theme and then seem to progress through time- starting with romanticism, then impressionism, then a dissonant and Prokofiev-like second variation, and finally syncopated and ragtime." - University of Colorado Boulder

Theme and Variation (See Notable Passages below)
-0:00 Theme
-1:35 Left Hand Melody, Right Hand Counterpoint
-3:00 Variation 1: (Sixteenth Notes)
-3:38 Variation 2: (Dissonance - Major and Minor 2nds)
-4:32 Variation 2 Continued: (Minor Tonality)
-5:30 Variation 3: (Syncopated Accompaniment, Dissonant Harmony)
-6:20 Conclusion