New Music: “Soul of Remembrance”
Mary D. Watkins
At the SCSM conference at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music in 2013, Dr. Horace Maxile Jr. (Baylor University) presented a paper about the ongoing influence of the “various manifestations of the spiritual in orchestral, piano, and chamber works by AfricanAmerican composers.”¹ He shared with us “Soul of Remembrance,” the second movement of Mary D. Watkins’ orchestral suite, Five Movements in Color. This suite was part of a recording project that Maxile oversaw at the Center for Black Music Research (Columbia College Chicago), entitled “Recorded Music of the African Diaspora,” Volume 1. He only played about 30 seconds of this movement. I remember feeling immediately drawn to the melancholic and soaring melody. I was sad when the music stopped. I wanted to hear the entire piece, so I bought the CD. I agree with Maxile, the spirit of the traditional spiritual imbues this piece with a haunting power, reminding us of the beauty of being fully human, especially in the midst of exile, enslavement, and sorrow. As the second century theologian, Irenaeus of Lyon, once argued, “Gloria enim Dei vivens homo, vita autem hominis visio Dei” (“The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”)² In her music, Watkins captures something of this ancient spiritual truth.
Watkins is a composer and jazz pianist. Her works range from operas to chamber music to solo works. Her style is as eclectic as her career. Women in the Arts, Inc. has commissioned a new symphony for the upcoming National Women’s Music Festival, July 5–8, 2018 in Middleton, Wisconsin. This work will be performed by the festival orchestra, conducted by Nan Washburn.
- From Maxile’s paper abstract for the 2013 SCSM conference at Yale Institute of Sacred Music.
- Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies, 4.20.7.
