Go Down Moses

Grade Level 3

Year: 1998

Type: Swing/Jazz Style

Composer: James Cheyne

Program Notes:

The well-known African-American spiritual “Go Down Moses” is the basis for this attractive swing setting.  The words reflect the strong identification by early African-American Christians with the story of the suffering of the nation of Israel in Egypt as recorded in the book of Exodus:

When Israel was in Egypt’s land, let my people go

Oppressed so hard they could not stand, let my people go

Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land

Tell old Pharaoh, to let my people go.

American Instrumental Ensemble Series (AIES/ABES)