The poem, written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson, was set to music by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson, five years later, and was soon adopted as the Black American National Anthem. The powerful song of affirmation has been frequently sung at notable occasions, recently at the opening ceremonies of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Simpson-Curenton has arranged the piece with her own variations as a concert level entry for flute and piano.

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Text from the scanned back cover:

Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing
Concert Variations for Flute (and opt. Alto Flute) and Piano
The song “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” began as a poem written by the lawyer and activist James Weldon Johnson in 1900; Johnson later served as leader of the NAACP, as foreign diplomat during the Roosevelt presidency, and as professor at New York University. In 1905, Johnson’s brother John Rosamond Johnson set the poem to music, and the song grew to be known as “the Black National Anthem,” continuing in this role today over 100 years later. J. Rosamond Johnson studied composition at New England Conservatory and sang in the original cast of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Together the Johnson brothers were influential and inspirational voices of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, and they also created several operettas and musicals.

Evelyn Simpson-Curenton is an accomplished composer and keyboard performer in both classical and gospel music, having been raised as a piano prodigy and the keyboard player for her celebrated family’s ensemble the Singing Simpsons. Concert Variations on “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was composed for her
daughter, the flutist Julietta Curenton.