MUSICAL
ORDER NOVEMBER 8, 2008
Greatly To Be
Praised--------------------------------------------------------------Eugene
Butler
Choose Something
Like a Star----------------------------------------------------Randall
Thom
(from
“Frostiana” words by Robert Frost)
O Shout And
Sing!
-------------------------------------------------------------Page/Shafferman
If You’ve Only
Got A Moustache----------------------------- Steven Foster/George Cooper
I Bought Me A
Cat--------------------------------------------------Adapted by Aaron
Copland
Cindy----------------------------------------------------------------
------Traditional Arr. Barnett
Shenandoah----------------------------------------------------------American
folk song/Arr. Erb
American
Ballads----------------------------------------------American folk
songs/Arr. Walker
We Fight Not For
Glory-------------------------------------------------------Randall
Thompson
(from The Testament of Freedom/words by Thomas
Jefferson)
INTERMISSION
Nancy
Hanks----------------------------------------------------------------Katherine
Davis/Benet
(from “Book of
Americans”)
A Civil War
Medley-------------------------------------------A Civil War
Medley/Arr. Gilpin
Sometimes I
Feel------------------------------------------------------Spiritual,
Arr. Shaw/Parker
Follow The
Drinkin’
Gourd----------------------------------------------------------------Spiritual
Saints Bound For
Heaven-----------------------------------------Traditional, Arr.
Parker/Shaw
Oh
Freedom!---------------------------------------------Slave Song/19th
Century, Arr. Whalum
Get Off The
Track----------------------------------------Slave Song/19th Century,
Arr. dePaur
Battle Hymn of
the
Republic---------------------------------------------Ringwald/Steffe/Howe
PROGRAM
NOTES
From the beginning of recorded history, art has developed from
indigenous cultures. Vocal and instrumental music have evolved and
progressed up to the present time reflecting the personalities of the
people.
The unusual
nature of music in America is that it has borrowed from many cultures
from all over the world that have migrated to this land. It is only
natural, therefore, that the tenor of the music in the United States
sounds similar to that of other countries.
Interesting enough, we can boast of only two original musical forms:
Jazz and the Negro Spiritual.
Much of the compositions performed tonight are in the area of folk
music; that is, without any known composer. In addition, the music
comes from the nineteenth century. During this time, there exists an
abundance of vocal works. Tonight’s performance attempts to look at a
cross-section of the musical genres available.
The opening number, Greatly To Be Praised, by Eugene Butler, is an
example of the religious fervor most prevalent in the 19th century.
Butler’s music has been sought out by public schools, colleges and
universities as well as churches.
When the name of Randall Thompson is uttered in a group of choral
conductors, silence and awe flow over the group. Choral people, here
and abroad, revere this composer for the legacy he has left in the wake
of his life and compositions. Much can be said of Thompson; his
attending and teaching at Harvard (as well as teaching Leonard
Bernstein), teaching at the University of California at Berkley, and
heading up Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 1939 to 1941.
Tonight’s concert honors him in a setting of Robert Frost’s poetry;
Frostiana as well as the Testament of Freedom which is based on the
writings of Thomas Jefferson. (Originally set for men’s chorus and
piano.)
Continuing, O Shout and Sing! is another illustration of the importance
of sacred vocal music here in America.
Now comes the composition of Steven Foster, If You've Only Got a
Moustache. This whimsical tune speaks to all the ‘single men’ to
not despair; just get a moustache and everything will be fine. This is
out of character for Foster as his music was of a different nature.
Even though he is the only composer to make it into the Hall of Fame
(1970), Foster’s life speaks of anything but success. Addicted to
alcohol, he was prone to sell an original work for the momentary
pleasure of a bottle. He eventually wound up in Bellevue Hospital in
New York City where he died in 1864 at the age of thirty-eight. He did,
however, leave us with some two hundred delightful works.
In the whimsical song I Bought Me A Cat, Copland makes a departure from
his catalog of more serious works. With Copland’s adaptation, Irving
Fine sets the song for mixed chorus with added tenor and soprano solos.
Cindy is a pleasant tune from this period. The song relates that Cindy
would marry her suitor some day; but the song ends with the mystery as
to whether she did or did not.
Shenandoah is a timeless ballad about the mighty Missouri river and
one’s desire to once again hear its mighty roar.
In the American Ballads, the chorale does #2 in the set of three
entitled Come All Ye Fair and Tender Ladies. These ballads are taken
from a nineteenth-century collection and arranged for chorus. In this
tune the message is one of caution as ladies go out and court men.
“They are like the stars of a summer morning; first they appear then
they disappear.”
Few tragic events in the annals of human history equal the
conflagration that transpired between 1861-1865 in this country. Like
all wars, songs sprang up to encourage both soldier and civilian alike.
During the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 songs were written
that sounded like music of Europe. Especially in the North, the call
went out for new composers to come forth and write music appropriate
for the moment. Men like George F. Root, Walter Kitteredge, and Patrick
Gilmore answered the call and came forward with timeless songs and
lyrics. Abraham Lincoln is quoted as saying that men such as George
Root were as responsible for the North winning the war as were the
generals.
In this medley Gilpin chose five tunes which are the most familiar of
the tunes of the war. Root wrote The Battle Cry of Freedom; Walter
Kitteredge Tenting Tonight; Root Just Before The Battle, Mother. Two
songs represent the South: Dixie and When Johnny Comes Marching Home.
Interesting facts emerge as discussions center around Civil War music.
First, Dixie was written by a Northerner, Daniel Emmett, as a
walk-around song in a minstrel show; When Johnny Comes Marching Home
was sung by both Northern and Southern armies. And finally, the Battle
Hymn of the Republic was written by a Southerner.
Nancy Hanks is a somewhat unknown song about the mother of Abraham
Lincoln. This song tells the story of Abe’s mother who returns as a
ghost and constantly asks the questions as to where is Abe? Did he grow
up? Did he learn to read? Basically, just what happened to him?
The next two songs, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child and
Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd talk about despair and hope indicative
of the black slaves during the Civil War.
Saints Bound For Heaven, a white spiritual, exalts the sojourn here and
the ethereal travel to heaven.
Oh Freedom! is a
negro-spiritual slave song longing for freedom.
In like manner, Get Off The Track reflects the excitement of Lincoln’s
Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. In this song, a metaphor is used.
“Ho! The car Emancipation, rides majestic through our nation, bearing
on its train the story, Liberty! a nation’s glory.” Many songs like
this are prevalent throughout the Negro experience of the 19th century.
Battle Hymn of the Republic was, for many choral concerts during the
Fifties and Sixties, a final piece on the program. Ringwald’s as well
as Willowsky’s have been the two arrangements choral conductors use.
Willowsky was, for several years, head of the public-school music
program in New York City.
(RICHARD OTEY)