Trombone Concerto - 3. I Have a Dream by Kangyi Zhang

Trombone Concerto "Let Freedom Ring!" by Kangyi Zhang
Wes Lebo (trombone)
NAFA Wind Orchestra conducted by Joost Flaach
16th March 2017 "Escape" Concert recording

1st: https://soundcloud.com/kangyi-zhang/trombone-concerto-1-rosa-parks-and-the-freedom-riders
2nd: https://soundcloud.com/kangyi-zhang/trombone-concerto-2-remembering-birmingham-1963

The conception of this piece coincided with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. While I was writing this work, the news media was dominated by nation-wide protests inspired by racial injustice involving Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner and others. In late Dec 2015, “Black Lives Matter” protestors made the news after several incidents with the police at airports and highways. The struggle for racial equality is ongoing and an ever-pertinent issue.

Familiar themes form the bedrock of this work, ‘We Shall Overcome’, ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’, ‘Oh Freedom!’, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’, and ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’. Throughout the work, the trombonist takes on multiple roles: a narrator, Rosa Parks, an eyewitness, a protestor and Martin Luther King.

3. I Have a Dream
The inspiring scene at “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr is recreated here. The trombone is the most appropriate instrument to imitate speech due to the ease of doing glissandos and microtones. From various excerpts of King’s speech, I was able to derive tones and rhythm to form motifs. The soloist galvanizes the orchestra with phrases such as “Justice flows down like waters”, “I still have a dream”, “This nation will rise up” and “Let freedom ring”. The famous tune “Go, Tell it on the Mountain” also forms the bedrock of this movement. The melody is first presented distinctly to celebrate the beauty of the human spirit in this arduous struggle. Later in the piece, the soloist cries “Free at last, Free at last” and “Thank God almighty” before the climactic tutti. The tutti melody is a hybrid of “Go” and “Oh Freedom”. The coda section reminds us that the struggle for racial equality continues today. The piece ends with the phrase “We shall overcome” prominently stated by the soloist and orchestra.