FROM WHENCE THEY CAME (Grade 5-6)

 

Commissioned for and premiered by the Wando High School Symphonic Band at the 2019 Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, IL. and is an impression of the totality of the 1619 enslavement of West African natives and the subsequent, resultant establishment of and growth of what became the Gullah culture within the Charleston area and deeply southeastern parts of the country. Instead of attempting to build an historical timeline, it paints a portrait that is more the sum of their experience along the way to Gullah.  If there were a painting that included in its scope all of the timeline at once, this could be a soundtrack.  There are elements of oppression, celebration, assimilation, heritage, struggle, resoluteness, faith, resilience, determination, and a deep appreciation for their rich contributions to the world in which they found themselves then and even now, 400 years later. 

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