SATB Seven Last Words of the Unarmed | Joel Thompson

I was riding in the car on the way back from some event. We were in that particular part of Iowa that isn’t very particular. I was looking at some cows in a field when my phone rang. When I answered, I was surprised to hear Dr. Eugene Rogers introducing himself which wasn’t really necessary because he’s sort of famous. I just couldn’t imagine why he was calling me.

He said something like, “Look. I’ve got this piece written by this young composer. It’s really good, and it needs to get out to the public. I’m afraid it’s too controversial for most publishers. Can MusicSpoke help?”

He sent the score and the video of the premiere. I sat down at the dining room table to listen. About 30 minutes later, my wife came home and found me ugly crying. She said, “What’s wrong?!” I said, “It’s this new piece that Eugene Rogers sent.”

Charles Bruffy led one of our reading sessions at National ACDA the next year. We included the Amadou Diallo movement where the choir simply sings, “Mom, I’m going to college.” It’s the only time I’ve ever been in a reading session where large portions of the participants started crying while they were singing.

Until now, Seven Last Words for the Unarmed has only been available in TTBB voicing. We are pleased to present the SATB version for purchase. It is our hope that making it available in this voicing will make the work more accessible for ensembles throughout the country and raise awareness of the problems it seeks to address. Also, MusicSpoke is donating 10% of all sales of Seven Last Words to Black Lives Matter.

So thanks to Joel for having the courage to write this and share his perspective. Thanks to Eugene Rogers for championing it. And I personally hope many of you will have an experience where you ugly cry. And then do something about it.

Seven Last Words of the Unarmed | Joel Thompson | MusicSpoke