The photographer John E. Dowell’s grandmother once appeared to him in a dream, urging him to visit the cotton fields of South Carolina, where their ancestors had been or might have been enslaved. The enigmatic and often surreal imagery he brought home became the material for the exhibition Cotton: The Soft, Dangerous Beauty of the Past. The show in turn has inspired a new song cycle by Damien Geter. The glamorous mezzo soprano Denyce Graves shares vocal honors with the rising baritone Justin Austin, with Laura Ward at the piano. —Matthew Gurewitsch