Harlem Chamber Players at Riverside Church

Harlem Chamber Players at Riverside Church:
R. Nathaniel Dett: The Ordering of Moses
June 17. 7:30PM. $25-150.

Like Handel’s Messiah, Nathaniel Dett’s oratorio The Ordering Of Moses tells a biblical tale through soaring melodies, beautiful choruses, and some nifty orchestral playing. But if you were to broadcast Handel’s Messiah, you wouldn’t cut it off ten minutes before the end. Yet that’s exactly what happened when Dett’s piece was premiered by NBC in 1937. The network claimed “previous commitments,” but it was probably the result of complaints from listeners who didn’t want to hear a Black composer’s music on the radio. On Friday, June 17, Dett’s masterpiece will be performed by 140 musicians and singers at Riverside Church, featuring members of the Harlem Chamber Players, as part of a program to mark Juneteenth weekend.