Five Spirituals: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Morton Gould (1913-1996) began writing and arranging African-American spirituals for “string choir” in the 1940s, and these were the first of his orchestral works to enter the repertoire. Gould preferred the term “string choir” to describe these works as he planned to use the strings like a vocal choir in an orchestral context. Kalmus offers Five Spirituals, each available separately. Included are settings of: Go Down, Moses (A7820); Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen (A7821); Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (A7819); Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (A7822); and Deep River (A8787). Instrumentation: Hp.Clst: 6 Str (6.6.5-5-5-5).