<![CDATA[MICHAEL T ROBERTS

<![CDATA[MICHAEL T ROBERTS - Works Page]]>Sat, 18 Apr 2026 14:33:45 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[The Gift]]>Mon, 05 Mar 2018 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.hotmike.com/works-page/the-giftMixed chorus (SATB) with piano, 4'00". Designed to lift an audience out of their seats, this setting of James Weldon Johnson's "The Gift to Sing" celebrates the power and magic of music.
Commissioned by the Albany (CA) High School All-Choir, Mary Stocker, director.
World premiere: March 28, 2018, 7:00pm, Albany, CA

Mary requested a program closer, full of energy and accessible to a wide range of singing abilities. “The Gift” is a soul/pop-style tune that begins slow and reflective before building to a huge and exuberant chorus. The goal is not only to bring the audience to their feet, but to give the choir something they’ll want to perform year after year.

The Gift to Sing*, by James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)
(*Mary and I decided to shorten the title for this composition)

Sometimes the mist overhangs my path,
And blackening clouds about me cling;
But, oh, I have a magic way
To turn the gloom to cheerful day--
      I softly sing.

And if the way grows darker still,
Shadowed by Sorrow’s somber wing,
With glad defiance in my throat,
I pierce the darkness with a note,
       And sing, and sing.

I brood not over the broken past,
Nor dread whatever time may bring;
No nights are dark, no days are long,
While in my heart there swells a song,
       And I can sing.

]]><![CDATA[To Soar in Freedom and in Fullness of Power]]>Fri, 02 Feb 2018 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.hotmike.com/works-page/to-soar-in-freedom-and-in-fullness-of-powerWomen's chorus (SSA) a cappella, 2'45". Squeezing plenty of ka-pow! into its relatively short duration, this Walt Whitman setting features quick dynamic shifts, sliding pitches, and dramatic word painting— including a soaring final fugato that I have come to think of as my "superhero fugue."
Commissioned by Accord Treble Choir, Liz Geisewite, director. World Premiere: June 3 and 9, 2018, NYC

I met Liz Geisewite at the Choral Chameleon Institute in the summer of 2017. Liz was a soprano in the amazing choir, and I was one of the participant composers. Afterward, Liz was kind enough to invite me to write a piece for her ensemble, Accord Treble Choir. I'd been eager to write for women's choir, and pounced on the opportunity for write for a really good one.

I chose this poem by Walt Whitman to fit the theme of Accord's June 2018 concert program, "On Wings."

Poem by Walt Whitman (1890 or 1891)

I have not so much emulated the birds that musically sing,
I have abandon’d myself to flights, broad circles.
The hawk, the seagull, have far more possess’d me than the canary or
mocking-bird.
I have not felt to warble and trill, however sweetly,
I have felt to soar in freedom and in the fullness of power, joy, volition.

]]><![CDATA[Voices from the Freedom March]]>Tue, 05 Dec 2017 08:00:00 GMThttps://www.hotmike.com/works-page/just-a-test-postDouble mixed chorus (SATB/SATB) a cappella (with body percussion), 6'15"
Voices is a journey through six iconic spirituals that became anthems of the civil rights movement. Call-and-response interplay between choirs, interlocking percussive rhythms, and dynamic tempo shifts cast new light on these timeless (and still highly relevant) songs. Commissioned by the Concert Choir of Sunset High School, Portland, OR, Chris Rust, director. World Premiere March 20, 2018 in Portland.

Chris Rust and I met at the Choral Chameleon Institute in June 2017, and I was honored that he asked me to write a piece for his students.

In deciding what to write, Chris mentioned that his students love pieces with body percussion. As it happened, I was beginning to research African-American spirituals—where body percussion has historically featured prominently—for my upcoming commission for the Oakland Symphony Chorus. We agreed that a mash-up of spirituals would not only be fun to sing (and stomp, and clap), but also quite relevant from a historical and social perspective.

Full text (traditional)

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
Glory, glory, Hallelujah

Come by here, come by here
Come by here, Oh Lordy, come by here
Come by here, Oh Lord, come by here
Oh Lord, come by here

Someone's cryin', Lordy, come by here (x3)
Oh Lord, come by here

Woke up this mornin' with my mind stayed on freedom (x3)
Hallelujah

I'm walkin' and talkin' with my mind stayed on freedom (x3)
Hallelujah

We shall not be moved (oh, Lord)
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
Oh, we shall not be moved

Black and white together
We shall not be moved (oh, Lord)
Black and white together
We shall not be moved
Just like a tree that's planted by the water
Oh, we shall not be moved

Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round, oh Lord,
Turn me 'round, oh Lord, turn me 'round
Ain't gonna let nobody turn me 'round
I'm gonna keep on a-walkin'
Keep on a-talkin'
Marchin' into freedom land

We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome someday
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
Oh, we shall overcome someday

We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand
We'll walk hand in hand someday
Oh, deep in my heart
I do believe
Oh, we shall overcome someday

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