Many thanks to all who replied! Some great ideas here.



Original post: The local symphony maestro wants a "big, American,
choral-orchestral closer"

that's only a half a concert, to celebrate the 400th anniversary voyage of
Henry Hudson (we ARE on the Hudson River here).



Responses:



Vaughan Williams A Sea Symphony, first movement

the first movement of Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony, with
text by Walt Whitman - the British composer and the American poet together
illuminate the Anglo-American character of Hudson's voyage.



Argento's Four Seascapes (2004). Very engaging and colorful,
medium-difficult. Texts are all by American writers on four bodies of
water: Pacific, Mediterranean, a charming scherzo on Lake Como, and a
terrific finale on the Mississippi. About 20 minutes. (Boosey) Text -
Herman Melville, Thornton Wilder, Henry James, Mark Twain (E) Scoring - SATB
chorus-2(II¯l).2(II=corA).2(II¼l).2(IIÛn)-3.2.1.1-timp.perc(2):BD/bell

tree/chimes/cyms/glsp/mark tree/snare dr/susp.cym/tamb/tam-t/whip/wind chime
(shell)/tgl/xyl-harp-strings

World Premiere 10/16/2004, Eastman Theatre, Rochester, New York
Eastman-Rochester Chorus / Eastman Chorale / Eastman Philharmonia / William
Weinert
http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/catalogue/cat_detail.asp?musicidE530



Randall Thompson Testament of Freedom (Thomas Jefferson)



George Bristow's Niagara Symphony - the 4th movement is a full cantata and
has just been put onto computer by Tim Cloeter of Carroll College



Wilhousky Battle Hymn of the Republic



Copland's Tender land Suite (Stomp Your Foot/Promose of Living - the full
score does NOT have the choral parts in it but they match exactly))



Randall Thompson's "Ode to the Virginian Voyage



Copland's A Canticle of Freedom



Howard Hanson's Song of Democracy



Randall Thompson - Psalm of Thanksgiving - it is an overlooked work but I
think it is one of his best.



Libby Larsen - Praise One - a fairly new work, about 15:00, Psalm texts



Stephen Paulus - To Be Certain of the Dawn - a 30:00 work as a Holocaust
memorial http://www.stephenpaulus.com/



David Avshalomov - "Principles," secular cantata on texts of Thomas
Jefferson



Frank Wells - Ravensbruck Prayer







A Concord Cantata by Randall Thompson - SATB (Piano reduction in choral
score, Orchestra score/parts can be rented) ECS No. 3003 ECS Publishing
www.ecspub.com



This is a three-movement cantata for chorus and orchestra is dedicated "To
the Townspeople of Concord, Massachusetts, 1775-1975." It can be performed
with the piano reduction in the score and it lasts about 15 minutes. There
are no vocal solos are indicated. The orchestra accompaniment is rather
heavily scored and thus requires some careful balancing in performance. The
music is not stocked by ECS, but it is available from them in a "Made to
Order" reprint edition (which is very readable).



The opening movement, "The Ballad of the Bridge," is a tenor-bass setting of
the narrative poem by Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909). It relates the story
of the battle of Concord Bridge from the Revolutionary War in very
expressive and dramatic fashion with a heroic conclusion. The choral parts
are mostly unison and two-part, with minimal divisi into four parts.
"Inscription" follows immediately, a short paean for full chorus a cappella.
The text is taken from the plaque on the Concord Bridge. The final
movement, "The Gift Outright," has a chorale-like theme that moves into some
very typical Thompson choral writing with long, flowing phrases, and much
interplay of melodic movement between the parts. It gradually builds to a
very powerful and affirmative end. The text is from a poem written by
Robert Frost and read by the poet at the Inauguration of President

Kennedy in 1961.





They're not half a concert, but we've had great luck with both Rutter's When
the Saints and his Battle Hymn.




David Griggs-Janower
janower(a)albany.edu
228 Placid Drive
Schenectady, NY 12303-5118
518/356-9155; 518/442-4167 (w)



Albany Pro Musica
PO Box 3850
Albany, NY 12203-0850
Ph: (518) 438-6548
www.albanypromusica.org




Music Department - PAC

Univ at Albany

Albany NY 12222


SUNYA Music department fax: 518/442-4182
UAlbany Chamber Singers:
www.albany.edu/~singers
UAlbany Chorale:
www.albany.edu/music/chorale



"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." Berthold
Auerbach



"Although nature has gifted us all with voices, correct singing is the
result of art and study." Aristotle



"Why waste money on psychotherapy when you can just listen to the B Minor
Mass?" Michael Torke



"The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of
sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils...Let no such man
be trusted." Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (and Vaughan Williams
Serenade to Music)