Judith Lang Zaimont – ‘Street Scene’ from HIDDEN HERITAGE – A Dance Symphony

The composer writes:

“Inspired by the evocative city street paintings of Archibald Motley (1891-1981) and Beauford Delaney (1901-1979), ‘Street Scene” is the third movement of Judith Zaimont’s HIDDEN HERITAGE – A Dance Symphony. It opens with a searching cello solo plus bongo commentary, just right for Delaney’s moonlit, muted-color night. Then things burst into full life with hyperactive bustle- everyone’s out-and-about in Motley’s colorful daytime scene, living full “out-loud”.
HIDDEN HERITAGE is scored for just 5 players: flute / Bb clar/tenor sax/ bs.
clar / cello / piano / percussion. ‘Street Scene’ is the symphony’s scherzo movement, following true scherzo form after a slow introduction.
The dance symphony was commissioned from Zaimont by the Yale Gordon Foundation specifically for Baltimore Dance Theatre, with choreography by company director Eva Anderson. The four-movement score is inspired by 12 varied paintings by African-American artists from 1850-1950, and was premiered 30 years ago in four performances at the Baltimore Museum of Art”

The two paintings depicted in this video are “Greenwich Village” by Beauford Delaney and “Black Belt” (1934) by Archibald Motley.

Karen Moratz, flute; David Finckel, cello; David Krakauer, clarinet; Clinton Adams, piano; Barry Dove, percussion; conducted by Doris Lang Kosloff

Videography by Michael Bregman

For more information on Judith Lang Zaimont, visit
https://judithzaimont.com

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