Performance Notes:

Movement 1. Postcards - The tone of the dialogues in this movement should rise and fall with energy as the score does. The score is a musical depiction of an abduction, lynching and mutilation. 

Movement 11. The North Star - This is a prayer to the North Star which for African Americans of the 19th Century represented hope and possible freedom from slavery. For those of the 20th Century and The Great Migration, it represented financial opportunities, an escape from segregation and the oppressive Jim Crow laws of the south, while finally allowing for freedom of personal expression.

Movement 111. Harlem After Dark - This is a musical tour through Harlem on a fictitious night in 1925. So as to give each section it's due, the "Charleston" rhythms should be played light and NOT swung too heavily. Where as the "Speak-Easy" clarinet and piano solos sections at letter K and M should have a heavy, down-home and lazy swing to them. All solos behind the dialogues should be understated and tonal, as to not draw attention from the orator. sincerely,

Jeff Scott