Hailstork, A :: The Bones of Mr. Fortune (Free at Last!)
Theodore Presser presents 'The Bones of Mr. Fortune (Free at Last!)' by composer Adolphus Hailstork. Scored here for solo flute, winds, and percussion, there is also a piano reduction available separately from the publisher. This piece is an 11-minute concerto-like work for solo flute accompanied by symphonic winds and percussion. It features lengthy cadenzas, and exhilarating dance-like sections with the ensemble.
The composer writes about this piece, 'Abused in life and death, an enslaved man known as Mr. Fortune was honored with an elaborate funeral more than 200 years after he died in Connecticut. Mr. Fortune was owned by Dr. Preserved Porter on a farm in Waterbury, Connecticut. When Fortune died in 1798, Porter, a bone surgeon, preserved his skeleton by having the bones boiled to study anatomy at a time when cadavers for medical study were disproportionately taken from slaves, servants, and prisoners. A study by forensic anthropologists at the Quinnipiac University School of Medicine concluded that Fortune was about 5 feet 5 inches tall and died at around 55 years old.
'I was taken by the bizarre story of Mr. Fortune and decided to use it as the stimulus for this work.'
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