About the Piece
Tawawa House is an opera composed in 1985 and premiered at Central State University (Ohio) in 1987. A fully staged performance took place in 2014 in Modesto, California.
Set in 1852, the opera Tawawa House is based on an actual place. In the town of Wilberforce, Ohio, there was a natural spring named “Tawawa” by the Native Americans in the area. Nearby, a large house that served as a hotel in the town of Wilberforce became known as Tawawa House. Tawawa House was popular among slaveholders and their slave mistresses during mid-1800s. The story of the opera surrounds the lives of escaped slaves. Later, the Tawawa House became the main building for Wilberforce College, the first college founded by African-Amercians in the United States. Tawawa House was destroyed by fire in 1865.
Tawawa House Suite, orchestrated by Jeannie Gayle Pool.
All movements are available separately. This suite is as heard on the YouTube video found under “Recording” below.
1. Juba
Congo Drum
Overture to Tawawa House
1 piccolo, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet in B-flat, 1 bassoon, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 tuba (optional, and may be synthesizer), timpani, snare, bass drum, train whistle, banjo (optional), sand paper blocks, violins I and II, violas, cellos, and bass.
Jumping Over the Broom
2 flutes, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet in B-flat, 1 bassoon, 1 horn in F, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 tuba (optional, and may be synthesizer), timpani, jug (optional, on synth), bottle and knife; banjo (optional), harmonica (optional), violins I and II, violas, cellos, and bass.
Fire Music
1 piccolo, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet in B-flat, 1 bassoon, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets, trombone, 1 tuba (may be synthesizer), timpani, marimba, sus. cymbal, temple blocks, medium gong, bongos, violins I and II, violas, cellos, and bass.
Sunday Dance Tune
2 flutes, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet in B-flat, 1 bassoon, 2 horns in F, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 tuba (optional, may be synthesizer), triangle, bass drum, woodblock, violins I and II, violas, cellos, and bass.
Score and parts available separately for purchase. The publisher may offer a discount if performed as a suite.
About the Composer
Born in Oklahoma, Zenobia Perry had only been playing the piano for a few years when she won her first piano competition and decided to pursue a career in music. She finished school and moved to New York to study privately with another African-American composer, Robert Nathaniel Dett. Perry began composing in the 1950’s, and in 1987 wrote the opera, Tawawa House. She won many awards, including a Music Citation for distinguished service in 1987, a Woman of the Year Award in 1999, and the Ohio Cultural Arts Award in 2002.
A biography of the composer is available at:
https://www.jeanniegaylepool.com/product-page/american-composer-zenobia-powell-perry-biography