Chorale from Concord

'Yankee Doodle' with variations is the most concise way to describe the piece commissioned by the New Haven Symphony Orchestra to commemorate Conneticut's participation in The United States Bicentennial. 'Yankee Doodle' a tune dating back to the Middle Ages in Holland and England (and used by the British as early as 1755 to poke fun at untrained American troops in the French and Indian war) is interwoven with other folk and national melodies to stitch a patchwork or a musical collage. It is a personal view of American history.'To explain my approach to They All Sang Yankee Doodle I must explain my own background because the piece is made up ofmusical memories imprinted from early childhood.My earliest musical memories are a juxtaposition of sounds - hymns and Bach chorales from the church next door where my mother was choir director; early twenties jazz from my oldest brother's dance band; classical piano from my middle brother and my mother's piano studio; and cowboy songs and turn-of-the-century ballads that I have always identified with my father. Concord California where I was born was once part of a land grant from the Mexican government and the Spanish-Mexican influence remained strong even as the town expanded from a sleepy settlement into an American microcosmos with a wide variety of ethnic groups. Over fifty years ago most of us who sang 'Yankee Doodle' in Concord could not trace our ancestry to the founding fathers. Those of us with Anglo-Saxon names were at the end of the Westward push our forefathers having left behind the Eastern cities a few generations before settling for a time mid-continent then restlessly pushing further West. Little is known of my paternal grandfather for instance except that he had come to California from Indiana walking across Nevada desert to become one of the first settlers in Mordoc Indian territory.Of course the native American the Indian was there to greet each new migration and it is his

Choral Dances-Choral Dances from Act II of Benjamin Britten's opera Gloriana op. 53. Queen Elizabeth I is on a state visit to the city of Norwich. After a formal address of welcome she is entertained by a Masque. To these unaccompanied Choral Dances dancers representing time and concord country girls and young rustics and fishermen all pay homage and tribute to the Queen. Six movements are featured for mixed choir with piano accompaniment for rehearsal only.

Study Score-Declaration Suite consists of the orchestral movements from 'Declaration - a symphonic narrative' for Orchestra two solo speakers and speaking chorus. In its original form the work includes a setting of theDeclaration of Independence.The composition was comissioned by Station WRC and WRC-TV of the National Broadcasting Company Washington D. C. for the National Symphony Orchestra of that city and was composed during thesummer and fall of 1956. The National Symphony Orchestra Dr. Howard Mitchell conducting gave the first complete performances at the Inaugural Concert in Constitution Hall Washington D. C. January 20 1957 and during theOrchestra's regular subscription series the week following.Declaration Suite was first performed by the Symphony of the Air under Dr. Mitchell in Carnegie Hall New York February 14 1957 as part of theannual WNYC American Music Festival.The movements are:I. Liberty Bell (Passacaglia)II. Midnight Ride (Scherzo)III. Concord Bridge (Memorial)IV. Summer '76 (Serenade)V. Celebration (Chorale and Fugue)