on Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair
for Solo Baritone Saxophone
Instrumentation:
- Solo Eb Baritone Saxophone
Program Notes:
I was first introduced to the old traditional song; Black is the Color of My
True Love’s Hair in my freshman year of high school when the school band I was in played Robert Sheldon’s arrangement of the tune that was written in memory of composer Mark Williams. Ever since then, I have been amazed by the song’s history and its many renditions by popular artists – of particular note to me are that of Nina Simone’s famous recording, and Burl Ives recording in the 1940s. In my setting and variations of the tune, I set out to try and bring the many faces of the melody out, the fact that this minor tune can be grand and huge in nature, but also light and fluffy was the goal in creating this arrangement.
Performance Materials Available Directly from the Composer.