“THIS IS HOW WE DO IT”: A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE MUSICAL ELEMENTS AND THE BLACK CHURCH CULTURAL INFLUENCES IN ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK’S I WILL LIFT UP MINE EYES: A CANTATA FOR TENOR, CHOIR, AND CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Authors

Alfonzo Cooper Jr, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

William Shomos, DMA

Date of this Version

11-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Comments

A DOCTORAL DOCUMENT Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Musical Arts, Major: Music (Vocal Performance), Under the Supervision of Professor William Shomos. Lincoln, Nebraska: November, 2020

Copyright © 2020 Alfonzo Cooper, Jr.

Abstract

This document analyzes Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes, featuring text from Psalms 121, 13, and 23. The author contends that Hailstork uses cultural musical elements of the Black Church throughout the entire composition. Beginning with a brief biography of the composer, the author then provides a movement-by-movement examination of salient musical features and Black Church cultural traditions Hailstork employs to highlight the text of his selected psalms.

Advisor: William Shomos