This work takes two African American Spirituals, "I've Been Buked," and "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" and weaves them together into a theme and variation which evokes the great cry of the soul whose burden is of the age-old promise of eternal freedom. This work was originally composed for solo piano but has been re-worked for two pianos with very satisfying results. Themes that were lost in the solo piano version can be heard clearly in this version.