Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Winter 2024 19 Cposers integrate these seemingly contradictory musical traditions and cultures: a European sound similar to Grieg or Dvorak, with the use of pentatonic scales and solo flute prevalent in Native American music; a mazurka dance rhythm combined with fragments of Indian drumming. e entire work is harmonically, structurally, and orchestrally carefully and clearly unfolded, showing a conservative imagination. Wheelock, as a Native American, created controversy as an advocate and activist for Indian assimilation into the white European American culture. His Suite Aboriginal is a musical essay arguing that viewpoint. Wheelock envisioned the ideal future for Native Americans as one without the segregation of reservations, where they would become fully assimilated into American society, with an appreciation of the historical Indian heritage. His motto was: "All the Indian wants is a white man's chance, no more, no less." Wheelock's perspective on how Native Americans might achieve recognition by white European America was based on his lifetime of achievement as a bandmaster and lawyer: success through assimilation. Jerod Tate's "Victory Songs" (2012) Jerod Tate's "Victory Songs" (2012) Contemporary Native American composer Jerod Tate articulates a competing vision of empowerment for Native Americans in the white European culture, by reviving and preserving Native American culture as distinct, resisting assimilation, and standing alongside the white majority European descendant culture, proudly unique and expressive in its own traditions. Many musical organizations, from symphony orchestras to choral ensembles, are now reawakening to Native American music. One such collaboration is e Lakota Music Project, which is the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra's flagship Bridging Cultures Program. Created between 2005-2008, the Lakota Music Project (LMP) "addresses the history of racial tension, builds bridges between natives and non- Native Americans, and creates an environment of openness through the sharing of music." e LMP was created through conversations between the South Dakota Symphony and leaders of the Lakota and Dakota communities with a goal of fostering deeper understanding through peaceful, positive collaboration. One of the composers commissioned to write a work for this project was Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate who wrote the song cycle Waktégli Olówaŋ (Victory Songs). Tate, born in 1968, received his undergraduate degree in piano from Northwestern University and a masters in piano and composition from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has performed extensively as a pianist and received many awards and commissions as a composer, writing in all genres of music. Victory Songs received a recent performance on March 11, 2023 by the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra in North Dakota under the direction of Dr. Beverly Everett and featured Dr. Jason oms, my son, as baritone soloist. While employing traditional European instruments, the music is distinctly Native American. Waktégli Olówan (Victory Songs) for solo baritone and orchestra...Jerod Tate (b. 1968) Introduction Red Cloud (Maȟpíya Úta) Two-Strike (Núm KaȟpÁ) Gall (Phizí) Crazy Horse (Tȟašúŋke Witkó) Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake) e ensemble's performance of this stunning almost 30-minute work, employing full orchestra with an extended percussion section and having a unique Native American sound, can be heard on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/b1ZDZAE0Z-Y. My son, Jason, said that while the baritone lines based on Native American musical material were not difficult to sing, but within the context of the clusters and textures of the orchestral part, it was sometimes challenging to find opening pitches. In addition, he had to learn to pronounce the Lakota language and spent time being tutored by a native speaker. Jason sang with conviction and passion and, I am proud to say, gave an amazing solo performance of this effective and powerful work. e work has a relentless stridency and intensity. However, movement five, to me the most successful, opens with a quiet flute/clarinet solo and then gradually expands an atmospheric texture to include incessant drumming against a poignant vocal line. e orchestral writing is atonal, clustering around changing pitch centers, oen having overlapping blocks of sound against each other, with the omnipresent drumming. While Dennison Wheelock's Suite Aboriginal attempts to assimilate Native American musical influences into a traditional American/European band sound, Jerod Tate's Victory Songs uses traditional American/European orchestral instruments to describe the musical landscape of Native American songs, drumming, and dancing. DISCOVERIES continued on page 24 Dr. Jason Thoms, baritone, and the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra Dr. Jason Thoms, baritone, and the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra

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