Program Notes – “Made in America”
The Star-Spangled Banner
Amateur poet Francis Scott Key wrote the words to our national anthem after witnessing
the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. It was set to the tune of a
popular British song that was well known in the United States, and soon became a
favorite American patriotic song. The Navy recognized “The Star-Spangled Banner” for
official use in 1889, and President Woodrow Wilson approved its official use in 1916. A
Congressional Resolution signed by President Herbert Hoover on March 3, 1931, made it
the National Anthem of the United States of America.
Sure on This Shining Night – Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber was born in 1910 in West Chester, PA. His musical ability became
obvious at an early age. He started piano lessons at age six and composed his first piece
the following year. When Barber was 14, he entered the Curtis Institute of Music where
he studied piano, composition, and voice. His compositional output includes works for
orchestra, piano, chamber music, voice, operas, a ballet, and choral works. Throughout
his life, vocal music was important to Barber. His aunt, Louise Homer, was a leading
contralto at the Metropolitan Opera, and through her he had access to the best singers of
the day. Written as a solo song, “Sure on This Shining Night” is one of Barber’s best
known vocal compositions. It enjoyed immense popularity in both the United States and
Europe. Thirty years after writing it, Barber arranged “Sure on This Shining Night” for
chorus, enabling new audiences to enjoy this timeless American classic.
Sure on This Shining Night – Morten Lauridsen
Morten Lauridsen is considered to be the most frequently-performed American choral
composer. His compositions appear on more than 200 CDs, and four of his choral works,
including “Sure on This Shining Night,” have become the all-time best selling choral
pieces distributed by Theodore Presser, a company that has been in business since 1783.
Lauridsen has been on the faculty of University of Southern California since 1967, but he
spends his summers in a cabin on a remote island off the coast of Washington state,
drawing inspiration from the beauty and serenity of nature.
The Voices
Choral composer and conductor Dale Warland is best known for his professional choral
ensemble The Dale Warland Singers. In the years that he led this group he commissioned
over 270 choral compositions, a remarkable contribution to the choral repertoire of the
20th and 21st centuries. “The Voices” is a special commissioning project benefitting the
programs of Chorus America. The Pittsburgh Concert Chorale is one of 21 choruses
across the United States (and the only chorus in Pennsylvania) to participate in this
commissioning consortium. This performance marks the regional premiere of the work,
which features a text by Michael Dennis Browne.
Stomp Your Foot from The Tender Land
Celebrated American composer Aaron Copland is most remembered for the music from
his ballets Appalachian Spring (“Simple Gifts”) and Rodeo (“Hoe Down,” now
recognized as the theme song behind “Beef – it’s what’s for dinner!”). His Lincoln
Portrait and Fanfare for the Common Man have become patriotic standards. “Stomp
Your Foot” is from Copland’s second opera, The Tender Land. Written in 1954 on a
commission from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, The Tender Land is based
on James Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. (Coincidentally, poet James Agee is
the author of “Sure on This Shining Night.”) Although not well received at its premiere,
the opera has since become one of the few 20 th century American operas to enter the
standard repertory. “Stomp Your Foot” is a rousing barn dance from the first scene of act
two.
Alleluia
Noted American composer Randall Thompson wrote symphonies, instrumental works,
songs, and operas, but he is best known for his choral works. Indeed he would probably
be as well known by choral singers if he had only written one work, “Alleluia.”
Commissioned in 1940 by Serge Koussevitsky and the trustees of the Boston Symphony
Orchestra for the opening exercises of the inaugural season of the Berkshire Music
Center at Tanglewood, Thompson wrote “Alleluia” in five days, July 1-5. The first
performance on July 8, 1940, launched a tradition that continues to this day. Each year
“Alleluia” is performed at the center’s opening. Despite its title, “Alleluia” is not a
jubilant celebratory work. France had just fallen to the Nazis. Profoundly affected by the
events of the war, Thompson said of his composition, “"The music in my particular
Alleluia cannot be made to sound joyous…here it is comparable to the Book of Job,
where it is written, ‘The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord.’"
God Bless America
“God Bless America” was written in 1918 by Irving Berlin while he was serving in the
US Army. The lyrics originally included references to victory. After the rise of the
Nazis, Berlin decided to revise the lyrics to emphasize peace. The revised version was
introduced on Armistice Day, November 11, 1938, by Kate Smith on her radio show. It
became Smith’s signature song. Berlin donated all royalties from the song to the God
Bless America Fund for redistribution to the Boy and Girl Scouts of America.
Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal
The tune and lyrics of “Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal” appeared in William Hauser’s
1878 shape note book Olive Leaf. Alice Parker, known for her many choral arrangements
with Robert Shaw and for her New England choral group Melodious Accord, arranged
this hymn for mixed chorus. This arrangement has become a staple in the choral
repertoire.
How Can I Keep from Singing?
“How Can I Keep from Singing” is often cited as a Quaker hymn. In fact, the cover of
the choral arrangement that we are performing says: “How Can I Keep from Singing?
Quaker Hymn.” This apparently is not the case. The tune was written by Robert
Wadsworth Lowry, an American Baptist minister. Authorship of the lyrics is disputed.
The words first appeared on August 7, 1868, in The New York Observer and were
attributed to Pauline T. Other sources cite Lowry as the author of both music and lyrics.
Still others claim Anna Bartlett Warner, who had written words for some of Lowry’s other
hymns, as the author. Folk singer Pete Seeger learned the song from Doris Plenn, a
family friend who had learned it from her grandmother, a North Carolina Quaker. He
recorded the song, changing the lyrics and adding a verse written by Plenn. The
arrangement we are performing uses the original text in a lush a cappella setting by
Connecticut conductor Edward Tyler.
Over the Rainbow
Written in 1939 for the film The Wizard of Oz, “Over the Rainbow” was awarded the
Academy Award for Best Original Song. Judy Garland, who sang the song in the film,
later wrote to composer Harold Arlen, "'Over the Rainbow' has become part of my life.
It's so symbolic of everybody's dreams and wishes that I'm sure that's why some people
get tears in their eyes when they hear it. I've sung it thousands of times and it's still the
song that's closest to my heart." This arrangement by Kansas City composer Mark Hayes
features the women of the Pittsburgh Concert Chorale.
All the Things You Are
Also written in 1939, “All the Things You Are” was composed for the musical Very Warm
for May by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. This was Kern’s last
musical, and it ran for only 59 performances. Yet from this unsuccessful Broadway
production came what many regard as Kern’s best composition. The song spent thirteen
weeks on the pop charts in 1939 with the Tommy Dorsey Band, peaking at number one.
The following year it charted with both Artie Shaw and His Orchestra, rising to number
eight, and with Frankie Masters and His Orchestra, rising to number fourteen.
Take Me Out to the Ballgame
This unofficial anthem of baseball was written in 1908 by two men who, ironically, had
never attended a baseball game. The first recording of the song was named by the
Library of Congress in 2010 to the National Recording Registry, which recognizes
recordings that are "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The arrangement
that you will hear is for barbershop chorus. Barbershop singing originated in the United
States during the latter half of the 19th century, when barbershops served as a community
gathering place for men. It began in the African-American community, where men
waiting for a haircut would harmonize to folk songs, spirituals, and popular songs. This
developed into the four-part, close-harmony, unaccompanied singing that is the hallmark
of barbershop quartet music.
Shenandoah
The origin of this well-known folk song is unknown. It first appeared in print in an 1882
issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in an article entitled “Sailor Songs” by William
L. Alden. Sea shanties were work songs sung by sailors to coordinate the efforts of
completing chores on board ship. It is likely that “Shenandoah” originated with FrenchCanadian voyageurs, but this cannot be proven. The correct interpretation of the text is
also not clear. The Library of Congress website states, “Some believe that the song refers
to the river of the same name. Others suggest that it is of Native American origin, for it
tells the tale of Sally, the daughter of the Indian Chief Shenandoah, who is courted for
seven years by a white Missouri river trader. Regardless of these textual discrepancies,
"Shenandoah" remains an American classic.” There are many choral arrangements of this
folk song, but James Erb’s setting has become one of the most popular for its beautiful
harmonies and the echo effect created in the third verse by the three-part canon in the
women’s voices.
I Can Tell the World
The spiritual is a uniquely American form of vocal music. Spirituals arose out of the
specific religious experience of African-Americans and their descendants, the result of
the interaction of music and religion from Africa with the music and religion of European
origin. Interestingly, this type of music only occurred in the US. Africans who converted
to Christianity in other parts of the world, even as close as Latin America and the
Caribbean, did not contribute to this musical form. Moses Hogan was a pianist,
composer, and conductor best known for his arrangements of spirituals. Born in New
Orleans, he completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Oberlin College and did graduate
work at the Juilliard School of Music. His Moses Hogan Chorale and Moses Hogan
Singers performed extensively, exposing countless audiences to classical music and to
Hogan's spiritual arrangements. Sadly Hogan died of a brain tumor at the age of 45, but
he left behind a wealth of spiritual arrangements that are performed regularly by choirs in
the United States and around the world. "I Can Tell the World" is an excellent example of
Hogan's gift as an arranger and of this uniquely American genre..
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Julia Ward Howe wrote this poem in 1861 in response to a challenge from a friend, Rev.
James Freeman Clarke. During the Civil War, the Union soldiers sang "John Brown's
Body" as an unofficial anthem. Confederate soldiers sang it as well, but with words of
their own. Clarke felt that the words should be more uplifting, so Howe wrote what has
come to be known as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." Her poem was published in
February, 1862, in The Atlantic Monthly and, when set to the tune of "John Brown's
Body," became the best-known Civil War song of the Union Army. Probably the most
frequently-performed version of "Battle Hymn" came from the pen of composer,
conductor, and educator Peter Wilhousky. His stirring arrangement serves as a fitting
finale for this concert of music "Made in America."