Lincoln Portrait
Lincoln Portrait (also known as A Lincoln Portrait) is a classical orchestral work written by the American composer Aaron Copland. The work involves a full orchestra, with particular emphasis on the brass section at climactic moments. The work is narrated with the reading of excerpts of Abraham Lincoln's great documents, including the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln Portrait was written by Copland as part of the World War II patriotic war effort in 1942.[citation needed]
History
Copland was asked to write a musical portrait of an "eminent American" by the conductor Andre Kostelanetz. Originally, Copland had wanted to portray Walt Whitman, but it was decided[who?] that a political figure was needed: "From this moment, Lincoln seemed inevitable." (Copland)[citation needed] Copland used material from speeches and letters of Lincoln and quoted original folk songs of the period, including "Camptown Races" and "Springfield Mountain".[citation needed]
Copland finished Lincoln Portrait in April 1942.
The first performance was by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on 14 May 1942, with William Adams as the narrator.[citation needed]
Instrumentation
Lincoln Portrait is scored for a speaker and an orchestra, preferably including:[citation needed]
- 2 flutes (doubling 2 piccolos)
- 2 oboes
- English horn (optional)
- 2 clarinets in B-flat
- bass clarinet
- 2 bassoons
- contrabassoon (optional)
- 4 horns
- 3 trumpets in B-flat (two required; one optional)
- 3 trombones
- tuba
- timpani
- snare drum
- cymbals
- bass drum
- tamtam
- glockenspiel
- sleigh bells
- xylophone
- celesta (optional)
- harp
- strings
Note that the English horn, the bass clarinet, the contrabassoon, the 3rd trumpet, and the celesta were deemed not essential for performance[clarification needed] by the composer and may be omitted from the performance ensemble as necessary.[citation needed]
The composition has also been transcribed for other ensembles, such as wind ensemble.[citation needed]
Famous narrators
Famous narrators of Lincoln Portrait have included:
- Richard Butler (Governor of Tasmania), Sydney Symphony
- Walter Cronkite, U.S. Air Force Symphony Orchestra
- Henry Fonda, London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Aaron Copland, at Walthamstow London, 1968[2]
- Al Gore, New York Philharmonic
- Katharine Hepburn, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
- Charlton Heston, Utah Symphony Orchestra[3]
- James Earl Jones, Seattle Symphony Orchestra[4]
- William Clarence Marshall, Cleveland Orchestra
- Walter Mondale, Minnesota Orchestra
- Paul Newman, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra[5]
- Barack Obama, Chicago Symphony Orchestra[6]
- Gregory Peck, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra[7]
- Vincent Price, Yale Symphony Orchestra
- Carl Sandburg, New York Philharmonic, conducted by Andre Kostelanetz
- Norman Schwarzkopf, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra[8]
- Adlai Stevenson, Philadelphia Orchestra[9], conducted by Eugene Ormandy
- James Taylor, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
- Margaret Thatcher, London Symphony Orchestra[10]
- Samuel L. Jackson, Orchestra of St. Luke's conducted by James Levine
- Gore Vidal, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas, at Hollywood Bowl, 2 August 2007
- William Warfield, several orchestras and conductors
- Tom Hanks, U.S. Armed Forces Symphony, at the We Are One celebration, 18 January 2009[11]
- Frankie Faison, Montclair State University Orchestra, Spring 2000
- James Earl Jones, Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration, February 2009
- Danny Glover, Appleton West High School Wind Ensemble, Fox Cities PAC, December 2002
- Frank J. Williams, Rhode Island Philharmonic, February 2009[12]
- Robert A. Muh, Boston Symphony Orchestra, 4 June 2009
Willie Stargell, Baseball player
A.W. Workman, Actor
Esther Rolle, Actress
Popular culture
The composition was lampooned by Peter Schickele in his piece Bach Portrait on the album 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults.[citation needed]
References
- ^ http://www.philorch.org/performance/8672/2009/08/05/
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFDF1E3EF93BA3575BC0A965958260
- ^ http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/May01/Copland_Gould.htm
- ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000006YT/
- ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4790854
- ^ http://www.millenniumpark.org/newsandmedia/documents/BlockbusterWeekendUpdatedRelease.pdf
- ^ http://www.npr.org/programs/pt/features/lincolnportrait.html
- ^ http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/May01/Copland_Gould.htm
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFDF1E3EF93BA3575BC0A965958260
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DA173BF935A25751C0A965958260
- ^ http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/isnt-time-live-blogging-sundays-inaugural-concert
- ^ http://www.projo.com/music/content/philrerv_03-01-09_34DGDJQ_v6.3af4cd8.html