Music and Libretto by Nkeiru Okoye
Duration: Approximately 25 minutes
Forces: Soprano and orchestra; also for Soprano with string orchestra, piano and percussion

Themes: Harriet Tubman, history, resilience
Genre: Operatic Song Cycle

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Movements: 

1. My Name is Arminta

2. My name is Harriet, Now

3. I am Harriet Tubman, Free Woman

4. I am Moses, the Liberator

 

Commission: Commissioned by the American Opera Project, with funds from an NEA Arts Work grant.

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For score and parts, contact rental@presser.com

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Summary

Songs of Harriet Tubman is a song cycle of the four "name" arias sung by the title character in the opera, HARRIET TUBMAN: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom.  Each song’s focus is a name tied to a stage in Tubman's transformation from slave to freedom-fighter.

 

First, as a child, she introduces herself as “Araminta,” who is often called, “Minty.”  Her naïve prattlings establish a dramatic contrast between childhood's contentment and the harsh realities of slave existence.

 

“My name is Harriet, now.  Don't call me Minty anymore,” declares the teenaged heroine. Having survived a series of abusive masters and a debilitating injury, she asserts her rites of womanhood through the shedding of her childhood moniker.

 

The adult Harriet Tubman reintroduces herself as a free woman, recounting the harrowing tale of escape from slavery.  Confronted by bittersweet poignancy at having crossed the line to freedom without family to welcome her, she is inspired towards a new goal: returning home to rescue loved ones. 

 

In the final aria, Tubman, a seasoned conductor on the Underground Railroad, embraces the folkloric title given to her by escapees and aspiring runaways.  “I am 'Moses, the Liberator,'” she proclaims.  Her transformation is complete.