Scenes from the Life of a Martyr

This epic work is is a musical depiction of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life: from birth, to adolescence, to adulthood, to his marriage to Coretta Scott, to his missionary work, to his assassination and finally to his afterlife. Scored for SATB Chorus, four vocal soloists, narrator, and orchestra, the 40-minute piece consists of 16 movements. This is the first engraved edition of the vocal score with piano reduction. Undine Moore became the first African American woman composer to earn a Pulitzer Prize nomination for the original orchestra score. Moore drew the text from various sources, including the Bible and spiritual songs. While the piece does not follow any particular form or structure, the musical styles change from beginning to end, corresponding to King’s growth. The piece starts with settings of spirituals (representing his mother singing to him), very straightforward and accessible. Once the piece moves into King’s adulthood, styles change and become more individualistic, more personal for the composer, and more idiomatic of 20th century styles, particularly in terms of its harmonic vocabulary and orchestration.