Composed 2015; 8 minutes

A composer and music educator based in Philadelphia, Michael Leibowitz writes: “Let My People Go is a theme(s) and variations based on three African American spirituals: Down By the riverside, Go down Moses, and He's got the whole world in His hands. These spirituals have a history not just as part of the American folk song canon, but as protest songs, coded-message carriers, and songs sung to elevate an enslaved people and remind them that a better future awaits. In Go Down Moses, for instance, the lyric ‘Let my people go’ applies just as much to the slaves working in the fields in the American South as it does to slaves toiling in ancient Egypt.

All three spirituals are treated to a plethora of compositional variation.  Harmony, rhythm, meter, articulation, and genre are all played with and exploited to create a varied and engaging sonic palette . . .  The climax of the piece pits all three spirituals against each other – all three are played simultaneously in a 4-part counterpoint, with one spiritual in canon and one in rhythmic augmentation, in a rollicking frenzy of syncopated ferocity.” The piece was premiered by the Cann Duo at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. in 2016.