Cause of Disunion
Lecture/Recital - December 6, 2025, at NYU Steinhardt
On Saturday, December 6, 2025, at NYU Steinhardt, my composition Cause of Disunion was presented as part of Nicholas Connolly’s required PhD recital in Voice. Nick commissioned the work as part of his doctoral studies, and it was an honor to collaborate on a project that merges historical scholarship, political commitment, and contemporary musical language. Nick performed as baritone, with me at the piano.
The program took the form of a lecture–recital. Nick opened with a detailed historical and musical presentation (16:47), tracing the life of abolitionist John Brown, the political world that shaped him, and the textual and stylistic foundations of the piece. The full performance of Cause of Disunion begins at 1:09:57.
Nick Connolly’s Lecture: 16:47
The work unfolds in five movements, each engaging a different dimension of abolitionist history and its present-day resonance:
Old Brown of Kansas — rooted in Psalm 94, confronting divine justice, law, and state violence
Osawatomie Brown — setting John Greenleaf Whittier’s 1859 poem Brown of Osawatomie, followed by an original movement song
Isaac Smith — reflecting on global histories of genocide and the politics of citizenship
Nelson Hawkins — imagined letters to Nat Turner and to the Haitian Revolutionaries Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Toussaint Louverture.
Martyr of Harpers Ferry — reimagined lyrics to “Surabaya Johnny” by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht
Musically, the piece moves through hymnody, Delta blues, Piedmont blues, hip-hop, cabaret, overtone singing, and socialist song traditions. Throughout, it draws deliberate connections between 19th-century abolition, settler-colonial violence, global genocide, and contemporary struggles against fascism, empire, and racial capitalism. The recital concluded with the collective singing of “John Brown’s Body”.
Cause of Disunion Performance: 1:09:57
Nicholas Connolly – Operatic Baritone
Dorian Wallace – Pianist & Composer
NYU Steinhardt – Music and Performing Arts Professions
Saturday, December 6, 2025 | 3:00 PM