For My People

Based on the Poetry of Margaret Walker
Composed by Randy Klein
Aurelia Williams - Vocalist, Randy Klein - Pianist

Composition for Chorale and Solo Voice


One of the most important performance pieces being offered today, For My People combines Margaret Walker's poetry, with socially conscious themes with Randy Klein's musical painting of every word.

For My People is heartfelt and uplifting.

For My People is available for performance at museums, schools, libraries, churches, universities, and colleges.

Writings by Margaret Walker Alexander

  • For My People

    For my people

    By Margaret Walker Alexander (1942)


    For my people everywhere singing their slave songs repeatedly: their dirges and their ditties and their blues and jubilees, praying their prayers nightly to an unknown god, bending their knees humbly to an unseen power;


    For my people lending their strength to the years, to the gone years and the nowyears and the maybe years, washing ironing cooking scrubbing sewing mending hoeing plowing digging planting pruning patching dragging along never gaining never reaping never knowing and never understanding;


    For my playmates in the clay and dust and sand of Alabama backyards playing baptizing and preaching and doctor and jail and soldier and school and mama and cooking and playhouse and concert and store and hair and Miss Choomby and company;


    For the cramped bewildered years we went to school to learn to know the reasons why and the answers to and the people who and the places where and the days when, in memory of the bitter hours when we discovered we were black and poor and small and different and nobody cared and nobody wondered and nobody understood;


    For the boys and girls who grew in spite of these thing to be man and woman, to laugh and dance and sing and play and drink their wine and religion and success, to marry their playmates and bear children and then die of consumption and anemia and lynching;


    For my people thronging 47th Street in Chicago and Lenox Avenue in New York and Rampart Street in New Orleans, lost disinherited dispossessed and happy people filling the cabarets and taverns and other people's pockets needing bread and shoes  and milk and land and money and something-something all our own;


    For my people walking blindly spreading joy, losing time being lazy, sleeping when hungry, shouting when burdened, drinking when hopeless, tied and shackled and tangled among ourselves by the unseen creatures who tower over us omnisciently and laugh;


    For my people blundering and groping and floundering in the dark of churches and schools and clubs and societies, associations and councils and committees and conventions, distressed and disturbed and deceived and devoured by money-hungry glory-craving leeches, preyed on by facile force of state and fad and novelty, by false prophet and holy believer;


    For my people standing trying to fashion a better way from confusion, from hypocrisy and misunderstanding, trying to fashion a world that will hold all the people, all the faces, all the dams and eves and their countless generations;


    Let a new earth rise. Let another world be born. Let a bloody peace by written in the sky. Let a second generation fill of courage issue forth; let a people loving freedom come to growth. Let a beauty full of healing and strength of final clenching by the pulsing in our spirits and our blood. Let the martial songs by written, let the dirges disappear. Let a race of men now rise and take control.

  • I Want To Write

    I WANT TO WRITE

    A Poem by Margaret Walker


    I want to write

    I want to write the songs of my people.

    I want to hear them singing melodies in the dark.

    I want to catch the last floating strains from their sob-torn

    throats. I want to frame their dreams into words; their souls into

    notes. I want to catch their sunshine laughter in a bowl;

    fling dark hands to a darker sky

    and fill them full of stars

    then crush and mix such lights till they become

    a mirrored pool of brilliance in the dawn.

  • Medgar Evers, 1925-1963

    Medgar Evers, 1925-1963

    Arlington Cemetery

    A Poem by Margaret Walker


    SO THEY LAID HIM DOWN IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE;

    IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO SLEEP AND REST.

    THERE HIS ANGUISHED LIFE AND OUR PULSING LOVE

    THAT BEAT IN HIS HEART AND BURNED IN HIS FACE,

    THEY ARE QUIET NOW, THEY ARE HUSHED AND STILL,

    BUT THE WORLD WILL FOREVER MARK THIS HILL

    WHERE THEY LAID HIM DOWN TO SLEEP AND REST

    WHERE THEY LAID HIM DOWN IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE.

    THE BIRDS OVERHEAD WILL BUILD THEIR NESTS;

    IN THE TWILIGHT HOURS SING A SERENADE.

    THE GRASS WILL GRADUALLY CREEP INTO SHADE

    WHERE THIS MARTYRED MAN SLEEPS UNAFRAID.

    AND HE WILL HAVE NEIGHBORS GOOD AND TRUE

    WHO HAVE GIVEN THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM, TOO.

  • The Ballad Of The Free

    The Ballad Of The Free

    A Poem by Margaret Walker


    BOLD NAT TURNER BY THE BLOOD OF GOD

    ROSE UP PREACHING ON VIRGINIA'S SOD;

    SMOTE THE LAND WITH HIS PASSIONATE PLEA

    TIME'S DONE COME TO SET MY PEOPLE FREE.


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

    THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND FIRST SHALL BE NONE

    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME


    GABRIEL PROSSER LOOKED AT THE SUN,

    SAID "SUN, STAND STILL TILL THE WORK IS DONE.

    THE WORLD IS WIDE AND THE TIME IS LONG

    AND A MAN MUST MEET THE AVENGING WRONG."


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

    THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND FIRST SHALL BE NONE

    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME


    DENMARK VESEY LED HIS BAND

    ACROSS THE HOT CAROLINA LAND.

    THE PLOT WAS FOILED, THE BRAVE MEN KILLED,

    BUT FREEDOM'S CRY WAS NEVER STILLED.


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

    THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND FIRST SHALL BE NONE

    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME


    TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE WON

    ALL HIS BATTLES IN THE TROPIC SUN,

    HERO OF THE BLACK MAN'S PRIDE

    AMONG THOSE HUNDRED WHO FOUGHT AND DIED


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

    THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND FIRST SHALL BE NONE

    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME


    BRAVE JOHN BROWN WAS KILLED BUT HE

    BECAME A MARTYR OF THE FREE.

    FOR HE DECLARED THAT BLOOD WOULD RUN

    BEFORE THE SLAVES THEIR FREEDOM WON.


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

    THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND FIRST SHALL BE NONE

    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME


    WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS HAVE GONE,

    BUT FREEDOM'S ARMY MARCHES ON.

    THE HEROES' LIST OF DEAD IS LONG,

    AND FREEDOM STILL IS FOR THE STRONG.


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

    THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST AND FIRST SHALL BE NONE


    THE SERPENT IS LOOSED AND THE HOUR IS COME

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About For My People

 A New Musical Work is presented in an exciting forum of a concert with multi-media video projections that correspond to the images spoken of in the poetry. The presentation also includes rare footage of Ms. Walker speaking her poetry. These art songs paint musical impressions that match the intentions of the poet’s words.


As a work of art encompassing the two arenas of poetry and music, For My People - A New Musical Work offers wide appeal to audiences of classical music, contemporary vocal music, as well as lovers of poetry, those interested in African American history, and, of course, fans of Margaret Walker.


The esteemed author, Margaret Walker, wrote poetry for most of her life. Her iconic poem, FOR MY PEOPLE is world renowned. For My People  combines her poetry, with its socially conscious themes, and the original music of award-winning composer, Randy Klein. It makes for an exciting performance that audiences respond to with joy and standing ovations.


For presenting venues or promoters, here is an opportunity to offer a relevant and engaging performance piece for Black History Month events in February, for Woman's History Month in March and of course Poetry Month in April. Audiences love this work!


FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions
    ​​Concert Packages

        For My People - A New Musical Work is a piano/vocal and multimedia presentation, but it is also a flexible performance piece that will allow a venue to present it with variation to the ensemble size without compromising the performance in any way. It also allows for the performances to be presented in venues that range from small performance spaces to concert halls as well as allowing the budget for the performance to fit most presenting organizations. The actual musical program would remain the same regardless of the size of the venue.


        Presentation Packages:


        Piano/Vocal

        Piano/Vocal with Vocal Ensemble

        Piano/Vocal with Full Choir

        Piano/Vocal with Full Choir And Instrumental Accompaniment

    Press/Quotes

        Margaret Walker's Poetry


        "Margaret Walker is a national treasure. Her signature poem 'For My People' is one of the best summaries of the Black experience."

        — E. Ethelbert Miller, Howard University


        "I can't contain my excitement over this long overdue tribute to an exemplary life. Margaret Walker single-handedly turned poetry upside down with her declaration of love and her challenge to the future of her people." 

        — Nikki Giovanni


        "Highly recommended for American literature collections, poetry collections, and Black Studies collections, high school level and up." 

        — Melinda Davis, University of Tennessee, EMRO


        For My People - The Margaret Walker Song Cycle

        "If anyone has a chance to attend a performance with anything written or performed by Randy Klein, I don’t think we should dream of missing it!" — Homes and Estates



        "The performance was a powerful blend of compositions, lyrically identical to a variety of Margaret Walker’s works. The powerful performance moved audience members joined with clapping. The musical transformation of Walker’s poems into lyrics was soulful. The music bellowed and the audience swayed with the powerful words. As the song came to an end the audience erupted into a standing ovation." 

        — The Breeze


        James Madison University students talk about the concert:

        'It’s very important to show poetry can be very relative and expressive,' - Marissa Dennehy.

        'Some people have a hard time connecting to poetry, but you can bring life into poetry by adding music,'

        —  Aishah McNeil.


        'It expresses the history of how people have overcome their struggles and just the way they express this is a beautiful art,' 

        —  Melodie Barefield.


        On October 18, 2013 at the Cranford High School in Cranford, NJ and on November 24, 2013 at the Bethel Presbyterian Church in Plainfield, NJ, For My People - A New Musical Work was performed with Randy Klein on piano, vocal solos by Aurelia Williams, featuring the Cranford High School Chorale under the direction of Anthony Raffaniello.


        On March 24, 2013 For My People - A New Musical Work has been performed at San Diego State University School of Music and Dance. The concert featured composer Randy Klein on piano, vocal solos by Aurelia Williams, the 80-voice Aztec Concert Choir under the direction of Dr. Patrick Walders.


        On July 7, 2012 For My People - A New Musical Work has been performed for the Margaret Walker’s 97th Birthday at the Margaret Walker Center, Jackson, MS featuring vocalist Aurelia Williams and members of Jackson State University Chorale.


        For My People - A New Musical Work has been performed at the University of Kansas (2005) and the Furious Flower Poetry Conference’s at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA (2004, 2010). The premiere of the iconic poem For My People took place on April 2, 2011 at the Forbes Center for the Performing Arts at JMU. It featured the JMU Chorale under the direction of Dr. Patrick Walders with guest vocalist Aurelia Willia

    Composers Note

        My attraction to the poetry of Margaret Walker was the result of a New York City subway trip from Brooklyn to Manhattan around February 1998. Printed on a placard from the Poetry In Motion series was a poem by Margaret Walker titled, Lineage. It began, “My grandmothers were strong.” As the subway train rumbled on, I was lost in the words of Ms. Walker’s heartfelt poetry. A few weeks later, I again became aware of the placard with Lineage on it. This time, I scribbled down the poem on a piece of paper, and when I got home, composed music for it. This was the beginning of For My People - A New Musical Work.


        Each song has emerged slowly and over a ten year period. I have internalized each poem and tried to envision how Ms. Walker would have read, imagining her gravel toned voice and southern accent. It wasn’t until much later in the composing process that I actually heard recordings of Ms. Walker speaking her poetry. I was amazed and pleased that I had captured her voice, feelings and her way of storytelling.


        After completing the initial ten song cycle, I made the decision to compose music for Ms. Walker’s most famous poem For My People. The original poem consists of ten sections and indicated that it should be expanded from a single voice performance to multiple vocalists. The first nine sections are written in a rhythmic style which features four lead vocalists interchanging lines and individual words complimented by a large choir and orchestra with rhythm section. The mixed-voice chorale is included in main sections of the piece as well to enhance the lyric content. To drive the vocals, there is a rhythm section which includes piano, bass, drums, guitar, and percussion. The tenth and final section of the poem is a slow prayer. I refer to it as the hymn section. It is out of time and conducted. It is a triumphant section as well as reverential. For My People is a work that lasts for about ten minutes. I consider it extremely important to have For My People performed in order to have the social and global issues that Margaret Walker wrote about emerge.


        Randy Klein