My Love Affair with Harriet Thomas McCauley John J. Cali School of Music Montclair State University
Commissioning a new work from a composer is an exciting adventure for both teacher and students. Having taken part in several such projects, I was thrilled when given the opportunity in the Spring of 2009, through a generous donor, to help bring another new piece into the world. The result of which was Harriet, and this is the story of how we got together. The commission was made possible through a wonderfully generous man. Mark Hudig (the donor), Robert Aldridge (then the Director of the Cali School of Music), and I met to discuss possible grantees. Although other names were discussed, I lobbied heartily for the Louisiana-native, O’Neal Douglas. I first became aware of O’Neal Douglas’s work when he appeared at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago in the early 1990’s as Assistant Conductor of a great high school band from Memphis, Tennessee. He wrote a piece especially for that performance: Vigil: For Those Who Do Not Know. Incredibly moved by the piece, and although the work remained unpublished, I contacted Douglas to ask if I might perform his Vigil with an honor band I had been contracted to conduct. Since then, I consider myself fortunate to have performed this work several times, in addition to his piece “Raging Water.” Dr. O’Neal Douglas has been mentored by and studied with well-known and respected composers and teachers, including David Gillingham, Jere Hutcheson, and Augusta Read Thomas. He earned a D.M.A. in composition from Michigan State University, holds a M. M. degree in composition from Central Michigan University, and credits his teachers and mentors for inspiring him to compose. Having had very little formal training in composition prior to his graduate degree work, his lessons with David Gillingham were revolutionary for the emerging composer. Gillingham “…has a way of seeing where TEMPO
you are headed, and then helping you to get there…”; his ability to help students “build a bridge” from where they are to where they want to be, according to Douglas, are his greatest strengths as a teacher. Likewise, Jere Hutcheson helped push Douglas “out of his comfort zone” to explore more about himself as a composer and a human being, and to help him view the compositional process as a “…complex reflection of who I am…”. The depth and breadth of Douglas’ work is a testament to his tenacity, dedication, ingenuity, and humanity. Although he was not well known at the time, Douglas’ compositional voice was—and is—most definitely needed, particularly in view of the sometimes banal, cookiecutter, mass-produced, “educational” music of the modern wind band published on a yearly basis. So, Douglas and I met at the Midwest Clinic the following December to talk about the commission. Remarkably, we were thinking along similar lines in terms of the “content” for the work. Originally, I thought it pertinent to base the composition on Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. However, Douglas mentioned that he had wanted to create a work inspired by the life and work of Harriet Tubman “for some time,” and was “waiting for the right time to begin working out the details…”. Since it had not been done before, and since the subject matter was so close to the composer’s heart, we agreed that Harriet Tubman would be the inspiration for this commission. Working together with Douglas proved to be inspiring and life-altering. Throughout the entire composition process in the months that followed, he contacted me early and often with details about the piece. Open and willing to consider any suggestions, he valued my input. His high level of professionalism, commitment, and engaged creativity allowed his then work—and all 44
MARCH 2021
