Dett Choral Music — Marques L. A. Garrett

Choral Music of R. Nathaniel Dett

R. Nathaniel Dett (1882–1943) was a Black nationalistic composer, educator, conductor, pianist, essayist, and poet who helped to change the impressions people had about Black music during the early twentieth century. His most notable work is the anthem Listen to the Lambs based on the spiritual of the same name. His magnum opus is the oratorio The Ordering of Moses with its use of the spiritual Go Down, Moses as a fugal theme. Known mostly for the use of Black folk music in his choral music, his stunning piano works and vocal solos rival some of the best classical works of his time.

Dett intentionally used Black folk music as the source material for anthems and motets. His intention was not to improve the music. He simply wanted to find other ways to preserve the music and create songs for use in worship services. These songs remain true to the character of the folk songs either through repeated use of the folk song melodies, motivic development based on the rhythms and melodic contour, added polyphony, or the use of characteristic idioms such as call and response, syncopation, and pentatonic scales.

The editions of Dett’s choral music available on this page are FREE. Print as many copies as you’d like. Perform them as often as possible. There are simply two requests. Please inform Dr. Garrett if you perform one of his editions, especially if you would like your recording considered for this page. Also, tell more people about both R. Nathaniel Dett and this page dedicated to his music. More scores will become available as additional music goes into the public domain.

For more information on this music, you can read his dissertation titled “The Short Choral Works of R. Nathaniel Dett” available at http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/2018_Sp_Garrett_fsu_0071E_14525.