Come As You Are
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Score title
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Come As You Are
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Composer
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Steven Banks
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Program note
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For several years, I have wanted to write a piece that was dedicated to my immediate family (my mother and three sisters) and the influence of my upbringing on my understanding of music and life in general. When preparing the program for my Young Concert Artists debut recital, it dawned on me that there would be no better time than this to share a work that bears such personal significance.
It seemed obvious to me that this piece needed to take influence from African-American church music in some way. When I think back to my childhood, and especially the beginnings of my journey in music, the church is at the center of so much. We were regular church-goers, my grandfather was a pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) church, and the church provided us with an incredible community that was very important to my family in the good times and the bad. The church also taught me about the transformative and awesome power of music.
In an effort to honor both my family and the church, I decided to write a four-movement work in which each movement would be dedicated to a different family member and take inspiration from their favorite Negro spiritual or sacred song. My mother chose "I Still Have Joy." My three sisters, Kharma, Jennifer, and Ashley, chose His "Eye is On the Sparrow," "My Lord, What a Morning," and "Wade in the Water," respectively. Additionally, I chose to write this piece for tenor saxophone as it was the instrument that I specialized on for my first few years of playing. My church family will largely remember me as playing hymns on the tenor saxophone during our services.
At its core, "Come As You Are" is an expanded arrangement or setting of these four songs. As a more direct reference to the music played in the church that I grew up going to, the song "Total Praise," which is typically sung by a choir, serves as a sort of connective tissue throughout the entire piece. The titles of each movement come from lyrics from "Total Praise." The text of each song is vital in understanding the expressive nature of each movement. However, the form and melodic content of each song has been either been expanded, rearranged, or manipulated in a way that is meant to make the message clear when played on instruments that, obviously, can not convey the actual words. Below, I’ve listed the movement titles along with the song that they draw inspiration from.
1. Lift My Eyes (My Lord, What A Morning)
2. Times of the Storm (Wade in the Water)
3. Strength of My Life (His Eye is On the Sparrow)
4. Lift My Hands (I Still Have Joy)
-- Steven Banks
Steven Banks