The Search for Nelly Gray, I Prelude
An oratorio built on themes from the Civil War era.
Not band performances here; rather compositions.
Lyrics
Vocals in Symphony 3, Prelude.
First vocal, Tenor:
There's a low green valley by the old Kentucky shore,
Where I've whiled many happy hours away,
A-sitting and a-singing by the little cabin door,
Where lived my darling Nellie Gray.
O my poor Nellig Gray, they have taken you away,
And I'll never see my darling any more.
I'm a-sitting by the river and I'm weeping all the day,
For you've gone from the old Kentucy shore.
Last night I went to see her, but she's gone the neighbors say,
The white man bound her with his chain.
They have taken her to Georgia, for to wear her life away,
As she toils in the cotten and the cane.
Second vocal, Bass:
No more auction block for me, no more, no more.
No more auction block for me, many thousand gone.
Tenor:
No more driver's lash for me, no more, no more.
No more driver's lash for me, many thousand gone.
Soprano:
No more pint of salt for me, no more, no more.
No more pint of salt for me, many thousand gone.
Soprano, Tenor, Bass:
No more auction block for me, no more, nor more.
No more auction block for me, many thousand gone.
