In 1987, British scholar Martin Bernal published the first volume of "Black Athena." It would prove to be the object of much academic scrutiny: Bernal's central thesis — that Egyptian and Phoenician cultures influenced "Classical" Greek Civilization by way of colonization, and that this once common knowledge was actively suppressed beginning in the 18th century — was subject to a number of academic criticisms.
No doubt, the contents of "Black Athena" lent itself to a great deal of controversy. Now, more than 30 years since its publication, it has also lent its name to a new orchestral project by composer Ray Angry: "Black Athena~ Power."
The piece was a long time coming, as far as Angry is concerned. It's the kind of creative pursuit that you've always wanted to engage but could never quite get started. That's not to say Angry is a procrastinator by any stretch of the imagination — he's still the keyboardist for The Roots, the house band on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” and he still hones his production skills, and tours.
"I just always had this inner desire to write for an orchestra, but just never had the opportunity," said Angry.
Opportunity did present itself, locally, as a commission from the Lexington Symphony under the direction of Jonathan McPhee, who will be premiering Angry's three-movement piece this weekend. One could describe the relationship as "fated."
Since the racial justice protests of 2020, as many institutions have scrambled to "Do The Work" — to varying degrees of sincerity and success — it has not been unusual to hear orchestras program music by composers like Florence Price, Duke Ellington and William Grant Still. But despite contemporary success and productivity, many of these artists were edged out of the concert hall and bring their music elsewhere.
"When you had a really talented Black composer, they found their voice by going to places like the Cotton Club, where their talents were openly accepted and opportunities were opened everywhere," said McPhee. "With this commissioning idea, what I wanted to do was to try and find a [classical composer of color] who ... was making terrific headway in pop music and jazz, and see if we could reawaken that connection to classical music."
While searching for that composer, McPhee placed a call to one of the most musically knowledgeable people he knew: his brother Keith, who happens to be the tour manager for the band The Roots. Keith recommended Angry, and the commission was born. The project was originally for solo flute, solo soprano and orchestra, but it expanded far beyond that.
To prepare, Angry threw himself into the study of orchestra, waking at 5 o'clock in the morning to begin writing, taking lessons and devouring score after score from Bach and Stravinsky and Schoenburg; George Gershwin and Aaron Copland and Nathaniel Dett. The joy in this writing, he explained, was in the expanse — learning how the woodwinds operate, for instance, meant channeling a focus into writing for woodwinds and then seeing how it pieces together with the brass, with the strings.
Over the course of the development, Angry requested a chorus and the inclusion of New York City-based percussionist Bashiri Johnson. "[Johnson is] bringing all these incredible African and ancient instruments that you've never seen before, and I'm mixing that in with the classical orchestral setting, just really adding an African element and tying different worlds together," Angry said of his vision. "I wanted to use the orchestra as a way to tell the story of Black heritage, to tell the story of all the different cultures in the world."
It's a bit disingenuous to describe Angry's orchestral debut as a "step forward," tempting as it may be. For starters, that not only implies that it's an achievement missing from an already accomplished premiere, but that symphonic writing is a potential end point for any "serious" musician. It also minimizes the fact that Angry knows how to write. You can take the word of McPhee.
Or you can listen for yourself: The 2011 album "Undun," The Roots' tenth studio effort, features Ray crafting soundscapes in several different sonic contexts. There are the dreamy vocables that introduce the album; and there are the movements from The Redford Suite — possessing the sonorous intimacy and warm vulnerability that only a handful of strings can provide — that close it.
If anything, "Black Athena~ Power" represents an extension of his musical world building and ambitions — whether as a producer or a pianist/keyboardist, or composer for television (most recently he's credited as a composer for Hulu's "Life & Beth"). But "Black Athena" is also Angry's statement, a utopian dream of the world that, maybe, once was — and is a long way off from becoming again.
"I wanted to write something that spoke to people almost working together in a way where there's no such thing as racism," Angry said. "Long story short, the piece is really about people working together in a space where we all coexist, without any sort of issues or divisive tactics to keep people apart."
Ray Angry’s world premiere of his symphony, “Black Athena-Power” with the Lexington Symphony is on Saturday, November 19th, 7:30 PM
