Forgiveness Suite for spoken word & orchestra by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), words by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, image of authors staring ahead with green tint

PHOTO: BETHANIE HINES

Forgiveness (2023, revised 2024)
Suite for spoken word & orchestra
Music by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)
Words by Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Instrumentation: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 tenor trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, 3 percussion, harp, piano/celesta, spoken-word artist, strings (violins I, violins II, viola, cello, contrabass)

Length: 32 mins
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COMPOSER’S NOTE:
This work is a marriage between Marc’s words, my music, and our ideas of how words and (orchestral) music can have impact and power as we navigate the roles we have to play within a culture of terror and frequent inability to see, hear, and forgive one another. Each of the four movements presents Marc’s ideas on forgiveness (i.e., 'Redemption', Reconciliation', 'Discernment', and 'Grace'). The music responds to these concepts in various ways at various points: as underscoring; as commentary; as a raucous, percussive crowd; or as a 'Greek Chorus', where Marc’s call elicits a response from the brass, woodwinds and string sections. -DBR

Forgiveness on Democracy Now

3:00: segments starts, including an interview with librettist Marc Bamuthi Joseph

34:00: Forgiveness concert excerpt, as performed by Oakland Symphony

Forgiveness was commissioned by the Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller, Music Director, for their Convergence Festival, and first performed on June 10, 2023

Notable Past Performances:

  • Premiere: Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller, Music Director, EMPAC, Troy, NY (2023)

  • Encore: Albany Symphony, David Alan Miller, Music Director, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy, NY (2025)

  • West Coast Premiere: Oakland Symphony, Kedrick Armstrong, Music Director, Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA (2025)

Planning a performance of this work? Please contact us and let us know the date and venue.

Score sample: