In this week’s episode, Isabel Milbourn examines Thea Musgrave’s opera Harriet, The Woman Called Moses: a story of Harriet Tubman that delves into both her heroic actions and her personal life, differentiated through musical motives and interactions between Harriet and the opera chorus.

This episode was produced by Zach Lloyd along with Team Lead Anna Rose Nelson. Special thanks to peer reviewers Vivian Luong and Joseph Straus.

SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/

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Welcome to SMT-Pod! The premiere audio publication of the Society for Music Theory. In this week’s episode, Isabel Milbourn examines Thea Musgrave’s opera Harriet, The Woman Called Moses: a story of Harriet Tubman that delves into both her heroic actions and her personal life, differentiated through musical motives and interactions between Harriet and the opera chorus.

If you were asked to think of examples of the trope “the woman who has it all,” Underground Railroad conductor, abolitionist, and Civil War hero Harriet Tubman probably isn’t the first name that comes to mind. That said, in Thea Musgrave’s 1984 opera Harriet, The Woman Called Moses, Harriet must find balance between pursuing romantic love and her compulsion to lead slaves to freedom, a balance so challenging that she often seems to be split into two distinct characters: Harriet, and “Moses.”

Harriet Tubman was born in 1822 into slavery in Maryland. She escaped in 1849, but subsequently returned to Maryland at least thirteen times as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, leading about 70 people to freedom and earning her the name “Moses.” During the Civil War, she served in the United States Army as a nurse, cook, spy, and scout, at one point leading a raid that freed almost 800 slaves. After the war, Tubman continued her social activism until her death in 1913, becoming an active member of the women’s suffrage movement. Multiple creative works have been written about her life, including operas, plays, novels, TV shows, and films, including most recently the 2019 biographical film Harriet, starring Cynthia Erivo.

Thea Musgrave (born 1928) is a Scottish-American composer who has written concertos, full orchestral pieces, chamber ensemble pieces, choral works, solo vocal and instrumental works, and, of course, operas. She studied composition at the University of Edinburgh, then later moved to Paris to study under Nadia Boulanger. She moved to the United States in 1972, where she served as a Distinguished Professor at Queens College, City University of New York. She has received numerous accolades, including two Guggenheim Fellowships, the Ivors Classical Music Award, and the Queen’s Medal for Music.

In this opera, Musgrave centers Harriet as the protagonist faced with a conflict between “love and duty,” a plight faced by many an opera protagonist. The depth of the conflict is emphasized by musical motives and Musgrave’s choice of orchestration. The chorus, acting as the voice of Harriet’s conscience, frequently employs what Linell Grey Moss called the “Freedom” motive—based on whole steps and syncopated rhythms reminiscent of those found in spirituals—highlighting “duty.” Harriet more frequently sings what I have deemed the “Love” motive—a three note motive characterized by an ascending leap followed by a descending step—highlighting her struggle between the two.

Let’s listen to an example of the “Freedom” motive. In this iteration, listen for the augmented triads and tritones. All of the pitches used are moving by whole step—there are no half steps in here at all, and that, with that syncopated rhythm, are some of the key components that Moss identified.

[Freedom Motive—Piano]

Now, let’s take a listen to a couple iterations of the “Love” motive, taken from a duet between Harriet and her soon-to-be husband, just after he’s proposed. This motive is legato, with tighter harmonies—a huge contrast to the “Freedom” motive. You’ll also notice that the ascending leap interval at the beginning changes within these iterations, but as long as we have that “leap up/step down” contour, that’s enough to classify it as the “love” motive.

[Love Motive—Piano]

Musgrave further widens the gulf between Harriet’s paths by splitting Harriet into two distinct “personae:” Harriet as herself—a woman in love, escaping slavery, and reuniting with her husband, parents, and siblings—and Harriet “As Moses,” an almost mythical figure that returns to the South numerous times to free slaves through the Underground Railroad.

When asked about her experiences as a woman composer, Musgrave has stated “Yes, I am a woman; and I am a composer. But rarely at the same time.” This separation of “composer” and “woman” is paralleled in Musgrave’s portrayal of Harriet’s two personae—Harriet is rarely “Harriet” and “Moses” at the same time. Can Musgrave’s Harriet, an abolitionist hero called Moses, also be “the woman who has it all?” Can Harriet’s two callings—romantic love and duty—be reconciled together within the same woman? Briefly, triumphantly, yes. The distinction between these personae create a dimensional Harriet—a Harriet that is a woman, not just a hero bearing a man’s name.

After a brief overview of the opera and its plot, I will establish the musical and textural distinctions between Harriet’s two personae—“Harriet as a woman” and “Harriet as Moses.” Then, these personae will be closely examined at two critical junctures: the point at which Harriet chooses duty over romantic love, and the point at which both personae are simultaneously reconciled within Harriet.

This is a two-act opera written specifically for Black opera singers at the Virginia Opera, where Musgrave’s husband—Peter Marks—was the director. Musgrave wrote the libretto herself. This is not unusual for her—she has written the libretti for seven of her eleven operas, both on her own and in collaboration with other authors. Harriet is the second of these self-authored libretti, coming seven years after her libretto for Mary, Queen of Scots. In this libretto Musgrave takes some significant liberties with Tubman’s story, in particular the portrayal of her personal relationships.

In the opera, Harriet’s husband “Josiah” is an important character—he is the “romantic love” side of Harriet’s conflict between love and duty that is the crux of the plot. However, Josiah is not based on a real person. The real Harriet married John Tubman, a free Black man, in 1844. He remarried after Harriet’s 1849 escape, and declined to move to Pennsylvania with her when she returned for him in 1851. She married her second husband, Nelson Davis, in 1869. Without Musgrave’s addition of Josiah, there would be no conflict between “romantic love” and “duty” in the opera.

Act I takes place as a dream sequence occurring as Harriet sleeps in the north after her escape, showing small vignettes from her life as a slave. These scenes include her marriage to Josiah, Harriet’s wish for freedom, and the discovery of plans to sell Josiah, leading to his successful escape. Harriet soon follows with her own escape, intending to reunite with Josiah in the north. At the end of the act, she wakes up and realizes that she must go back south to save her people, postponing her search for Josiah. In the final scene of the act she asks God “if He wants [her] to be like Moses,” leading them to freedom. Let’s listen to this key moment, recorded live at the world premiere at the Virginia Opera on March 1, 1985. Soprano Cynthia Haymon played the role of Harriet.

[Am I to be like Moses]

Act II begins with Harriet’s journeys back south, freeing many slaves. In the North, after one of these journeys, she reunites briefly with Josiah, but returns to the South one last time—against his wishes—to free her parents and siblings. Due to the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which allowed escaped slaves to be captured in the North, Josiah is captured and forced back to the South. Thus, Harriet guides Josiah and the rest of her family to Canada—a journey which ends in Josiah’s death at the Canadian border as he takes a bullet intended for Harriet.

Harriet’s two personae in this opera—“Harriet as herself” and “Harriet as Moses”—are developed through dichotomies between melodic, lyric, and motivic features. Harriet “as herself” sings sweeping arias and duets, while Harriet “as Moses,” disguised as a young boy, does not sing during the portrayal of her trips to and from the South.

These scenes are largely instrumental, punctuated with short choral passages, highlighting the “Freedom” motive. Musgrave’s decision to have the chorus as the only vocal presence in these scenes gives the chorus more prominence. It also elevates Harriet “as Moses” to her legendary status—her voice is literally absent. This dichotomy between legend and individual is intertwined with how Musgrave portrays (or doesn’t portray) Harriet’s femininity within these personae.

The vignettes in the first act establish Harriet as a woman with dreams, desires, and love. Harriet sings arias and duets showcasing her struggles, her desire for freedom, and her love for Josiah through his proposal and their marriage. Throughout these latter scenes, Musgrave frequently employs the “love” motive. Let’s listen to a few examples of the “love motive,” sung by Cynthia Haymon, joined by Ben Holt, who played Josiah.

[Love Motive 1]

The “Love” motive often coincides with Harriet singing “Josiah,” further establishing the connection between the motive and romantic love. Josiah also sings this motive while expressing his love for Harriet. When she sings these duets and arias, Harriet is “Harriet, the woman,” not “Harriet, the woman called Moses,” and her emotions and desires are on full display. Let’s listen to an excerpt from the duet that Josiah and Harriet sing after Josiah proposes. This excerpt is made up almost entirely of the “Love motive.”

[Love Motive 2]

This duet emphasizes Harriet’s femininity: romantic love and (heterosexual) marriage is strongly associated with traditional views of “womanhood.” Harriet does not sing these arias and duets (let alone the love motive) when she is “Harriet as Moses,” disguised as a boy and freeing slaves.

The chorus slowly starts developing as its own character—Harriet’s conscience—throughout Act I. The freedom motive opens the opera, immediately giving it an important foothold. While the Freedom Motive is original material, Musgrave took inspiration from harmonies and rhythms found in spirituals, as will be heard in this excerpt. Here’s the first vocal entrance of the opera.

[Opera Opening]

Starting the opera with this motive highlights its importance. Because it is so prominent, the chorus uses it throughout the opera to establish its role, developing from “a chorus” to “Harriet’s Conscience.” The chorus’s role begins to expand just after Harriet and Josiah finish their duet, and the chorus enters with the “freedom” motive, entreating Harriet (as Moses) to lead them to freedom. At this point, the stage directions state that the chorus should separate Harriet from Josiah, physically coming in between the two. The chorus interrupting Harriet’s dream in this way becomes a direct juxtaposition of “love” and “duty,” planting the seeds of the actions that will unfold in Act II. Unfortunately, there is not a recording of this scene—it may have been added after the premiere.

The conflict between love and duty is put into stark relief at the end of Act I. Harriet is torn, having woken from her dream and realizing that she is feeling called to return to the south and help free her family, instead of staying in the north and finding Josiah, who has already escaped. This scene opens with the chorus singing the freedom motive, stating that there is no freedom and that they have no hope. Let’s listen to this opening plea.

[Act I Finale Opening]

Throughout the scene, Harriet realizes that the chorus is, in fact, her conscience and they are singing to her, begging her to “be like Moses” and bring them to freedom. As Harriet reflects on her next actions through a sweeping aria, the love motive appears both in her line and throughout the orchestral accompaniment—sometimes shifting between the two parts. Harriet uses the love motive frequently when invoking the Lord’s name, asking him for guidance, as well as when she expresses her desire to stay in the North and find Josiah.

Critically, the love motive is featured when she asks if she is “not to seek [her] own happiness” and if she is “not to stay here and find Josiah,” with the motive falling on the last two words of each line. Listen for the “love” motive in this excerpt—first repeated in the lower reeds, then in the last part of each of Harriet’s lines, and finally returning to the low reeds.

[Am I not to seek my own happiness]

As the excerpt continues, she repeatedly sings Josiah’s name, not using the love motive—a marked contrast from earlier in the act. This mirrors Harriet’s contemplation throughout the scene: as she realizes that she needs to put her duty to her people above reuniting with her husband, the “love motive” fades away. While her aria is full of ascending leaps throughout, they are no longer followed by the love motive’s descending step after she resigns herself to following her conscience, moving towards becoming “Harriet as Moses.” Let’s listen to the rest of this excerpt, paying attention to the love motive dwindling away in the orchestra—and the fact that it does not appear at all in Harriet’s line.

[Disappearing Love Motive]

Josiah enters the stage, creating a split scene. He is searching for Harriet, knowing that she planned to follow him North, and sings about his love for her and his desire to reunite. His aria is interrupted by the chorus with the Freedom motive, calling for Moses. When Josiah re-enters, it is with newfound conviction, reflected in opening the line with the love motive. At the same time, the love motive has faded from Harriet’s aria as she makes her decision—Josiah’s aria marks the last time the love motive is heard in Act I.

The disappearance of the love motive further emphasizes its connection with Harriet’s femininity: by the end of the aria, she has picked up the clothes of a young boy—her disguise—and the love motive is gone. Let’s listen to the end of Act I, picking up in the middle of Josiah’s aria. After the chorus interrupts him, pay attention to his next entrance, which uses the love motive. Then, we will hear Harriet’s strengthening resolve, marking the end of the act.

[Josiah/Harriet Act I Finale]

In addition to serving as Harriet’s conscience, the chorus becomes the primary narrative voice at the beginning of Act II. The act opens with a “pantomime,” a montage of Harriet’s journeys south. These scenes are punctuated by the chorus marking each journey’s end by thanking Harriet (as Moses) for leading them to freedom. Let’s listen to the tail end of one of those chases, followed by the chorus’s entrance with the freedom motive. This will be rife with whole steps and syncopations—characteristic of the motive.

[Pantomime]

Throughout this montage, Harriet does not sing at all. Harriet, the woman with love and desires, is not present. Instead, she is Moses, disguised as a young boy, fulfilling her duty to her people.

The first time that Harriet sings in the second act is when she reunites with Josiah in the north, a moment of love before she, again, returns to fulfill her duty and save her family. The chorus is absent through these scenes and does not return until Harriet is in the south again during this final journey. Interestingly, neither Harriet nor Josiah sing the love motive in this excerpt. However, the absence of the chorus and the freedom motive are a strong enough indicator that Harriet is “herself,” not “Moses” in this scene.

[Harriet’s Act II Entrance]

Harriet once again chooses duty over romantic love—leaving to travel south one last time against Josiah’s wishes. This choice is made in an argument with Josiah. This marks the second time that her calling to duty is verbalized in the opera, the other instance being the Act I finale. As we listen, notice that there is only one iteration of the love motive, found in Josiah’s line.

There are no iterations in Harriet’s line, nor in the orchestral line. This is still a “Harriet as herself” scene, due to the lack of freedom motive and chorus. The lack of love motive, however, shows that she is still strong in her convictions—“Harriet as Moses” is not that far away.

[The Argument]

Harriet is adamant on making the trip, however, because she knows that this final journey will result in the reconciliation of love and duty: she is returning to finally bring her family to freedom, after which she can stay in the North with Josiah for good.

Upon making it to the south, this reconciliation of love and duty is shown through Harriet’s interaction with the chorus. Up until this pivotal moment, the solo and choral lines have been kept distinct in order to maintain separation between Harriet’s personae. Now, these calls have been unified, and this is reflected when the chorus directly sings the line “Harriet, you are Moses!” When Harriet affirms this, she matches notes with the chorus’s soprano line. Let’s give this a listen.

[Reconciliation]

Finally, she is both Harriet and Moses “at the same time.” She is a woman who has fulfilled her duty and can “choose her own happiness.”

Sadly, after this triumphant scene, Harriet is unable to fully enjoy the reconciliation of her two personae, as Josiah dies after taking a bullet intended for her as they flee into Canada. In spite of this, the music of the finale reflects that the reconciliation did occur—Harriet is the woman called Moses. While she still rises above the chorus, notice how her pitches and rhythms are consonant with the chorus’s final presentation of the “Freedom” motive.

[Finale]

Musgrave’s portrayal of Harriet Tubman goes beyond “Moses,” the hero of the Underground Railroad. Harriet is a woman with desires and individuality—making the contrast that much starker when she chooses to set those aside to work “as Moses,” portrayed without her voice and her femininity. The emphasis on the two personae remind us that “Harriet, the woman called Moses” was always “Harriet, the Woman called Moses.”

I am so grateful to everyone that has helped me with this episode. A huge thank you to my team lead, Anna Rose Nelson, my peer reviewers, Vivian Luong and Joe Straus, and my producer, Zach Lloyd, for guiding me through this process. Your insights were invaluable! I’d also like to extend my gratitude to Rachel Lumsden—without your fantastic “Women in Opera” seminar, this project would not exist. Thank you also to my classmates in said seminar: Aaron D’Zurilla, Luis Matos-Tovar, Gillian Radcliffe, Brandon Scribner, and Zachary Simonds, for your excellent feedback throughout the seminar. And, of course, thank you to Megan Lyons for working with us on this project. Thank you all so much!

Visit our website smt-pod.org for supplemental materials related to this episode and to learn how to submit an episode proposal. Join in on the conversation by tweeting your questions and comments @SMT_Pod. SMT Pod's theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia with closing music by Yike Zhang. Thanks for listening!