When I compose, I look for inspiration from sources that can be the driving force for the melodic material.  Often it is the written or spoken word that I reach for, as it helps tremendously to tell the story musically.  To say the least the text from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, “I have a Dream,” is inspiring.  It helped to galvanize a movement. This text along with photos and live footage from moments in the civil rights movement were ample sources for inspiration towards melodic material.  I could easily have written hours of music!

The real work is to try to say something profound in an artistic way about MLK, that hasn’t already been said.  For this I knew from the beginning that I had to explore deeply the many aspects of King’s personality and reasons behind his influence.  Hence the subtitles of the first two movements.  “Hope” and “Prayer”.   King’s vision of an America that lives up to the promise of its constitution needed a moment on its own in “Hope”.  King’s ability to inspire by the sometimes subtle, sometimes feverish rise and fall of his well-paced speeches and sermons as well as the cadences in how he delivered certain phrases, all spoke musically to me and inspired “Prayer”.  

I knew from the inception of the project that a choir had to be involved.  Again, the power of the spoken (sung) word cannot be matched.  The last movement, “There”, How Long ’til We Get…was inspired by the section of MLK’s speech (How Long, Not Long!) where he truly brings the audience to their height of inspiration.  For this I needed to employ the skills of the wonderful singer and songwriter Amma Whatt Agyapon.  Amma wrote the powerful lyrics for this song, that I believe captures the true spirit of MLK’s message.  And I quote Amma, “There is a fight yet to be won and we’ll get THERE!!”

Jeff Scott