EARTH IS OUR MOTHER (1992)

OVERVIEW

Dave and Iola Brubeck wrote the narrated choral work "Earth Is Our Mother" in 1992 as a tribute to the seamless web of spirituality, life, and land.

In 1854, Chief Seattle of the Suquamish tribe addressed the United States territorial governor of the Washington Territory Isaac Stevens, who had come to the Northwest to buy their land and remove their people to a reservation. Dr. Henry A. Smith was said to have witnessed the speech and embellished the text when he published what he claimed was just a fragment of the speech thirty years later in the Seattle Sun Star in 1887.

Dave and Iola were inspired by the speech when they first heard its English translation on a PBS broadcast and decided to set the words for a commission by Floyd Slotterback and the Marquette Choral Society. Dave and Iola felt that clean air and water were an extension of our civil rights so they were naturally attracted and inspired by Chief Seattle's words:

"This we know: All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it."

In the program notes from the 1992 premiere, Brubeck wrote:

“Although the actual words of Chief Seattle may be gone forever, his message about the seamless web of spirituality, life and land is vibrantly alive. . . 'Our religion,' he is quoted as saying, 'is the traditions of our ancestors--the dreams of our old men, given them in the solemn hours of night by the Great Spirit'… These visions, mingled with the ghosts of his ancestors, still haunt us and have much to teach us about our mother, Earth. When will we listen?”

Descendants of Chief Seattle attended the first performances of “Earth Is Our Mother” in Seattle in 1993, where Chief Andy de los Angeles, former Chairman of the Snoqualmie Tribe, presented Dave with sacred eagle feathers. Dave said they told him ”"Now, when I give you this, remember when you cross over, you wave that, and we'll let you in."

DETAILS

(1992) 25 min.

INSTRUMENTATION

SATB chorus
Baritone solo or narration
Piano or optional instrumental accompaniment (2 flutes, bassoon, timpani, percussion, bass)

MUSIC

Dave Brubeck

TEXT

The text is attributed to Chief Seattle, adapted and arranged by Dave and Iola Brubeck

COMMISSION

Earth is Our Mother was commissioned by the Marquette Choral Society, Marquette, MI for its 20th anniversary and was made possible by a gift from Phyllis Reynolds in memory of her husband Maxwell K. Reynolds, a businessman and community leader in Marquette and strong supporter of Northern Michigan University.

WORLD PREMIERE

April 11, 1992, at the Hedgcock Fieldhouse at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, MI. Floyd Slotterback conducted the Marquette Choral Society and Northern Michigan University Choir with Wayne Hanmer singing the role of Chief Seattle.

PURCHASE & LICENSING

For more information contact Derry@BrubeckMusic.com