Form Song cycle Language English Composed 2001 | Text Sandra Seaton Melody William Bolcom Performed 2001 | |
From the Diary of Sally Hemings is a song cycle for voice and piano. The work, commissioned by mezzo-soprano Florence Quivar and Music Accord, is a collaboration between Pulitzer Prize winning composer William Bolcom and playwright Sandra Seaton. After being contacted by Quivar, Bolcom asked Seaton to write entries for a fictional diary kept by Sally Hemings throughout her life. Seaton's text for 18 entries of the imaginary diary were then set to music by Bolcom.
Contents
Plot
The work recreates the thoughts and feelings of Sally Hemings throughout her long relationship with Thomas Jefferson by means of fictional diary entries. The 18 songs in this imaginary journal provide an interpretation of the relationship between the two, Hemings officially a slave but also the half-sister of Jefferson's wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson. The songs trace the life of Sally Hemings from her earliest memory, including her recollections of Martha dying from complications following childbirth, to her sojourn in Paris with Jefferson and finally her life with him at Monticello until his death.
Performance history
Florence Quivar performed From The Diary of Sally Hemings in 2001 at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, and again at the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress.
Quivar also performed the song cycle in 2002 at several locations, including: The Rialto Performing Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia; The Terrace Theater at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; The Lydia Mendelssohn Theater at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor; and The Lied Center at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
Soprano Alyson Cambridge and pianist Lydia Brown performed From The Diary of Sally Hemings at Carnegie Hall, Central Michigan University, Harkness Memorial Chapel in Cleveland and Oberlin Conservatory. The CD of the production is available for sale at CDBaby. The score of the production is available at Hal Leonard.
Reception
From The Diary of Sally Hemings has been reviewed by numerous newspapers and magazines, including The Washington Post, The Morning Sun, Time Out Magazine, The Michigan Daily, Ann Arbor News, The Capital Journal, The Kansas City Star, and the University of Illinois Arts & letters Magazine.
The collaborative end result with Seaton's text, Bolcom's music and Quivar's mezzo-soprano voice captivated listeners at the premiere. The theater was packed and there was not a sound to be heard while the performance was going on. When Seaton and Bolcom came on stage afterwards, there was thunderous applause.
Quivar's velvet voice and experienced dramatic touch made the piece seem more like a miniature opera than a song cycle. Pianist J.J. Penna made the intricate accompaniment seem like a well-crafted narrative, even on the Lied Center's clangorous piano.
He went on to critique the rest of the performances of the night, closing his review with these words: “But it was the Hemings tale that stuck in the mind. Would that this piece could find its way into the permanent repertoire, for both its music and its message deserve many hearings."