for piano and (optional) narrator
Music by Anthony L. Sanchez (b. 1988)
Copyright © 2026 by ZEKE SPILLED INK MUSIC (ASCAP), Savannah, GA
Video created by the composer using Microsoft Clipchamp video editor- "Black and White" filter and text applied with fading effects
Not made with A.I.
Text by Thomas Jefferson, Public Domain
Photograph by Maria G. Sanchez- Taken at Wormsloe State Historic Site in Savannah, GA in 2011
VST playback via MuseScore 4 Score
Recording and score available for purchase on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/on-legacy-of-151553495
Program Notes:
I created On the Legacy of Independence (2026) shortly after reading the book 1776 by the historian David McCullough (1933-2022). My piece functions as a commemorative reflection on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the “Declaration of Independence” and the formation of the United States in 1776 during the American Revolution (1775-1783). The process behind writing On the Legacy of Independence originally began with ideas that I eventually discarded in favor of going in another direction. My early attempts focused on setting the entire “Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson to music and including quotations from popular songs from the era: most notably, “Free America,” which used the same tune as “The British Grenadiers.” After realizing that such attempts would prove distracting or had been overdone by other musicians and composers, I concentrated instead on the following excerpt from Jefferson’s historical document:
… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….
I initially wanted to apply this text musically by turning it into an art song for voice and piano. I later decided against that idea and transformed the syllabic and rhythmic contents from the textual fragment from the “Declaration of Independence” as a “song without words” for solo piano or a composition for piano and optional narration (I present the words in the score as italicized segments for context). The piece also includes moments throughout where I rhythmically and harmonically set the word “independence” like a fanfare and feature rhythmic patterns in the lower registers of the piano to sound like drums. In framing On the Legacy of Independence in that way, I avoid romanticizing colonial American history. My work underscores the gravity and significance in understanding that the “Declaration of Independence” had been written during war with Great Britain and serves as a reminder of the necessity for democracy in our own trying and uncertain contemporary times.
Music by Anthony L. Sanchez (b. 1988)
Copyright © 2026 by ZEKE SPILLED INK MUSIC (ASCAP), Savannah, GA
Video created by the composer using Microsoft Clipchamp video editor- "Black and White" filter and text applied with fading effects
Not made with A.I.
Text by Thomas Jefferson, Public Domain
Photograph by Maria G. Sanchez- Taken at Wormsloe State Historic Site in Savannah, GA in 2011
VST playback via MuseScore 4 Score
Recording and score available for purchase on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/on-legacy-of-151553495
Program Notes:
I created On the Legacy of Independence (2026) shortly after reading the book 1776 by the historian David McCullough (1933-2022). My piece functions as a commemorative reflection on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the “Declaration of Independence” and the formation of the United States in 1776 during the American Revolution (1775-1783). The process behind writing On the Legacy of Independence originally began with ideas that I eventually discarded in favor of going in another direction. My early attempts focused on setting the entire “Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson to music and including quotations from popular songs from the era: most notably, “Free America,” which used the same tune as “The British Grenadiers.” After realizing that such attempts would prove distracting or had been overdone by other musicians and composers, I concentrated instead on the following excerpt from Jefferson’s historical document:
… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness….
I initially wanted to apply this text musically by turning it into an art song for voice and piano. I later decided against that idea and transformed the syllabic and rhythmic contents from the textual fragment from the “Declaration of Independence” as a “song without words” for solo piano or a composition for piano and optional narration (I present the words in the score as italicized segments for context). The piece also includes moments throughout where I rhythmically and harmonically set the word “independence” like a fanfare and feature rhythmic patterns in the lower registers of the piano to sound like drums. In framing On the Legacy of Independence in that way, I avoid romanticizing colonial American history. My work underscores the gravity and significance in understanding that the “Declaration of Independence” had been written during war with Great Britain and serves as a reminder of the necessity for democracy in our own trying and uncertain contemporary times.
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