Magnolia

Composer: DETT, R. Nathaniel
  • Written in (or before) 1912, Magnolia is piano suite comprising five movements:
    1. Magnolias
    2. The Deserted Cabin
    3. My Lady Love
    4. Mammy
    5. The Place Where the Rainbow Ends1
  • As indicated by each movement’s title, Dett draws on images of both nature and social life based on personal encounters.
  • At the beginning of the suite’s score, Dett included the following text:
    • Gorgeous Magnolias,
      Spotless in splendor,
      Sad in their beauty,
      Heavy with perfume.
  • The fifth movement, “The Place Where the Rainbow Ends,” is based on a poem of the same name by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Read Dunbar’s poem here.2

Sources

  1. “Magnolia (Dett, Robert Nathaniel),” IMSLP, accessed February 12, 2025, https://imslp.org/wiki/Magnolia_(Dett,_Robert_Nathaniel).
  2. “My Cup Runneth Over: The Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett (recording),” R. Nathaniel Dett, accessed February 12, 2025, https://www.nathanieldett.com/recordings/.

Cut IDs

26686