Glenn Burleigh, Let God Arise: Opus 35, Cantata for Eastertime. The Ambassador's Concert Choir; Graceway Baptist Church Adult Choir; Glenn Burleigh, conductor. Burleigh Music Inspirations, 1997, 2 CDs

• Published in: Journal of the Society for American Music 2013-08, Vol.7 (3), p.350-353
• Main Author: Tipton, Carrie Allen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 19th century; African Americans; Archives & records; Choirs; Christianity; Composers; Dictionaries; Encyclopedias; Gospel music; Jazz; Keyboards; Musical performances; Musicians & conductors; Orchestras; Popular music; Recording Reviews; Web sites
• ISSN: 1752-1963; 1752-1971
• DOI: 10.1017/S175219631300031X

Piecing a few sources together, a picture emerges of an artist following in the footsteps of earlier black composers such as William Grant Still, Florence Price, R. Nathaniel Dett, Duke Ellington, and William Dawson, who brought classical training to bear on African American musical and literary culture. 3Opus 35 also argues for Burleigh's inclusion among the ranks of more straightforwardly gospel choral composers such as James Cleveland and Richard Smallwood; in particular, Burleigh's anthem-like pieces have much in common with the more contemporary Smallwood. [...]the recording rarely reaches the level of musical and rhetorical excitement that often occurs in black gospel music performance. According to Burleigh, however, his goal was not to replicate a gospel experience, but to merge gospel and classical music, so this characteristic cannot properly be considered a failing. [...]it captures a recent choral work by an under-documented African American composer; second, it gives listeners the chance to hear a work that typically would be performed primarily in the context of black churches; third, it represents a rare instance of a large-scale dramatic sacred work from the black gospel choral tradition captured on recording (mass choir recordings of individual songs are quite common, but discs of larger works are not).