The first movement, "FOUNDATION," chants the names of miners from a Pennsylvania Mining Accident index, specifically choosing Johns with one-syllable last names in alphabetical order.
Album & Artwork
The album's cover art features a photocollage by Denise Burt, while the back cover shows a 1946 photo of a coal loader by Russell Lee.
Composer Biography
Composer Julia Wolfe grew up near the anthracite field region of Pennsylvania, which she describes as seeming like the "wild west" north of her small town.
Instruments
Mark Stewart, one of the performers, created the bicycle wheel instruments heard in the movements "Breaker Boys" and "Flowers."
Composer's Artistic Vision
Julia Wolfe's aim with "Anthracite Fields" is to honor the people who persevered in the Pennsylvania Anthracite coal region and to reveal aspects of American workers.
Composition History
Julia Wolfe's "Anthracite Fields" was commissioned by the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia for choir and the Bang on a Can All-Stars.
Composition History
The text for "Anthracite Fields" is drawn from oral histories, interviews, local rhymes, advertisements, geological descriptions, and a speech by John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers Union.
