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Lincoln Portrait

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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]

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:

Willie Stargell, Baseball player

A.W. Workman, Actor

Esther Rolle, Actress

The composition was lampooned by Peter Schickele in his piece Bach Portrait on the album 1712 Overture and Other Musical Assaults.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ http://www.philorch.org/performance/8672/2009/08/05/
  2. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFDF1E3EF93BA3575BC0A965958260
  3. ^ http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/May01/Copland_Gould.htm
  4. ^ http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000006YT/
  5. ^ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4790854
  6. ^ http://www.millenniumpark.org/newsandmedia/documents/BlockbusterWeekendUpdatedRelease.pdf
  7. ^ http://www.npr.org/programs/pt/features/lincolnportrait.html
  8. ^ http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/May01/Copland_Gould.htm
  9. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CEFDF1E3EF93BA3575BC0A965958260
  10. ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3DA173BF935A25751C0A965958260
  11. ^ http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield/isnt-time-live-blogging-sundays-inaugural-concert
  12. ^ http://www.projo.com/music/content/philrerv_03-01-09_34DGDJQ_v6.3af4cd8.html
  13. ^ http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/perf_detail.jsp;jsessionid=SNX305KA1JTYGCTFQMGCFEQ?pid=prod3100163
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