MELODEON Soprano Marti Newland and pianist Artis Wodehouse in Preview Video for Nov. 3, 2013: William Bolcom/Sandra Seaton "Diary of Sally Hemings"

Marti Newland, www.martinewland.com  (YouTube.com)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87S7Piv1tjw  (3:53)

Artis Wodehouse
This is a rehearsal video of Marti Newland and I at Columbia performing one of the songs from William Bolcom and Sandra Seaton's cycle, "From the Diary of Sally Hemings". We'll perform the entire set of 18 songs on Sunday, November 3rd at 7, Christ and St. Stephen's Church, 122 W. 69th in NYC. It's a pretty amazing piece.

Published on Oct 27, 2013

Soprano Marti Newland and pianist Artis Wodehouse of MELODEON perform a selection from a unique 2001 American musical masterwork written by composer William Bolcom in collaboration with poet Sandra Seaton called "From the Diary of Sally Hemings". Sally Hemings (1773-1835) was one of Jefferson's over 600 slaves. After the death of his white wife, Hemings became Jefferson's long-time mistress, and together they produced several children. This relationship was not verified until the late 1990s, when DNA testing of the descendants of this union became available. 

Hemings is not known to have actually written a diary, but composer William Bolcom and poet Sandra Seaton have taken the known historic facts about her life and reconstructed her experience through a fictional/poetic musicalized first person voice in a cycle of 18 songs. 

In the song here, Sally Hemings is aboard a ship, sailing to France. She is a teenager, and has been asked to accompany Jefferson's youngest daughter, Maria, to Paris where Jefferson from 1784 to 1789 was serving as the ambassador to the Court of France, representing the fledgling United States. In the song, Sally Hemings reminisces about her grandmother's brutal capture into slavery in Africa, her harsh voyage to America via the "Middle Passage", and the irony of her own situation, retracing her grandmother's voyage, this time back across the Atlantic to Europe. 

MELODEON is a group of musicians that perform American music of the 19th and 20th century. Presenting "The Diary of Sally Hemings" is an exceptional foray for the group, but the subject matter and treatment is foundational for understanding the United States.

The video/audio recording was done at Columbia University by Whitney Slaten Oct. 26th, 2013, while Newland and Wodehouse were rehearsing in preparation for a concert of the complete cycle to be presented Sunday, Nov. 3rd, 2013 7 p.m. at Christ & St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, 122 West 69th Street, NYC.