Connecticut Master Chorale

Dan Forrest
b 1978

Folk Songs of America – arr. Dan Forrest

These notes were sourced from Dan Forrest's web site and edited for our use.

Folk Songs of America is a choral cycle which seeks to unite commissioning choirs from around the country in a project that will fulfill a larger personal goal of mine. My choral commissions are nearly always isolated projects, without a sense of any larger goal or inter-connectedness. For some time, I've looked for a way to bring individual commissions into a sense of community, participating in a larger narrative. Folk Songs of America contains new settings of American folk songs, representing distinctive facets of the richly diverse people and places found through various periods of American history.

• How Firm a Foundation – American folk hymn

  How Firm a Foundation is a popular American folk hymn that was first published in the 1830's. It was one of the most commonly sung in the Civil War era. The text boldly asks, what stronger foundation can God give to His children who flee to Him for protection, than the precious promises of His Word? Stanza after stanza then affirms these promises of protection and comfort.

  Robert E. Lee requested that this be sung at his funeral. (It was a favorite of Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt, as well.) Perhaps the most moving American historical idea, however, is the thought of the countless soldiers, fighting on both sides of the Civil War, who would have known this popular hymn and clung to its promises on the battlefield. This setting is inspired by that thought, and therefore uses a musical style which evokes the 19^th century American folk hymn tradition.
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  Samuel Medley
  1738 - 1799

  I Know That My Redeemer Lives – Francis C. Wood (1824 - 1872); words by Samuel Medley

  This is a vigorous, energetic setting of the early American hymn tune ANTIOCH #277 of Sacred Harp. Sacred Harp is a tradition of shape-note singing, a type of folk hymn singing.

• The following two colonial folksongs, The Nightingale and The Girl I Left Behind Me, are the inaugural pieces of Dr. Forrest's choral cycle Folk Songs of America.

  Most colonial music has clear ties to the Old Land-Britain, Ireland, Scotland - but even in this early era of American history, there was something of a New Land spirit starting to form. The texts and tunes of both of these colonial folksongs have ties to 17^th century England, but were brought to the New Land, where multiple variants formed and became quite popular. Both songs sing of a soldier. In the first, a "brave volunteer" whose fiddle enchants a fair lady, and in the second, a blustering soldier whose professions of love are rather belied by his jaunty fife tune and his tales of soldiering. (This paradox is the basis for a rather cynical treatment in this setting, which almost pokes fun at him.)

  • The Nightingale – Appalachian folk song

    The Nightingale is an American variant of the English folk song, The Bold Grenadier. The haunting pentatonic tune is included in Sharp and Karpeles' "80 Appalachian Folk Songs," and the roots of the text can be traced to 17^th century England.

  • The Girl I Left Behind Me – Colonial American folk song

    The Girl I Left Behind Me is of debated origin (English or Irish). Some sources claim it was popular in colonial America, while others claim that it didn't cross the Atlantic until some time later. Either way, it became popular in the New Land, and one can easily sense that its narrative style and light-hearted fife tune would be quite at home in colonial America.

• Who Can Sail Without the Wind? – Upper Midwest folk song

  While originally from Sweden, this folksong became popular among Swedish immigrants in the American upper Midwest. It would have had particular meaning for early Scandinavian immigrants singing about leaving their homeland, although the theme of the text is broadly applicable to other "partings" as well. The contours of the piano accompaniment should suggest waves against a boat, while the haunting vocal melody floats above it.
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  Isaac Watts
  1674 - 1748

  When I Can Read My Title Clear – Traditional American melody – words by Isaac Watts

  This song expresses the longing for a clear understanding of one's place in God's plan and the promise of eternal life. The title refers to the future state of glory and recognition in heaven, where believers will fully understand their identity and relationship with God. The hymn suggests that this clear understanding will come when the believer is in heaven, not while still on earth.
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  Thomas Hayes Bayly
  1797 - 1839

  Long, Long Ago – Thomas Hayes Bayly – 19^th Century "parlor song"

  A typical example of the early 19^th century American "parlor song," with its simple, singable melody, and nostalgic emphasis on separation and longing. It was extremely popular when it was first published in 1843, one year before Stephen Foster published his first piece. This new setting preserves the wistful, nostalgic mood of the original song, but casts it in a more modern musical idiom.

• Skip to My Lou – Traditional American folk song

  Skip to My Lou originated in the American frontier play-party in the 1800's. Square dancing was forbidden by frontier preachers, and its common instrument, the fiddle, was deemed "of the devil", so frontier families instead held play parties, without instruments, and with more "innocent" dancing. This song would have been sung by paired partners, joining hands with other couples, skipping in a circle around one partner-less person. Eventually the center person chose a partner, the new partner-less person went to the center of the ring, and the song began again. Over 40 verses of text have been identified.

André Thomas
b. 1952

I Hear America Singing – André Thomas

As Professor Emeritus of Music at Florida State University, Dr. Thomas has distinguished himself as a composer, conductor, and author. This composition incorporating, the words of American poet Walt Whitman and the spiritual Walk Together, Children, was conducted by the composer at the February 2012 President's Day Choral Festival Concert at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In his notes about the experience he wrote, "As we sang and played I Hear America Singing, I could feel not only the words of Walt Whitman and the slaves in that setting but that I was clearly transforming the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood!".

Samel A. Ward
1848 - 1903

Katharine Lee Bates
1859 - 1929
with Hamlet

From Sea to Shining Sea – Samuel A. Ward; words by Katharine Lee Bates; arr. Maurice C. Whitney (1909 - 1984)

This work is a fantasy based on America the Beautiful, which has often been called the national hymn of the United States. Of particular interest to us here in New England is the fact that the lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929), a native of Falmouth, Massachusetts, who was a Professor of English Literature at Wellesley College. Inspired by the view from Pike's Peak during an extended trip across the country, she wrote the text down as soon as she returned to her hotel. Her poem was first published in 1895 and was sung to several other melodies before finally being published again in 1910 set to the New Jersey composer Samuel A. Ward's hymn Materna.

Samuel Francis Smith
1808 - 1895

Dan Forrest
b 1978

My Country, 'Tis of Thee – words by Samuel Francis Smith; arr. Dan Forrest

This song served as one of the de facto national anthems of the United States (along with songs like Hail, Columbia) before the adoption of The Star-Spangled Banner as the official U.S. national anthem in 1931. Commissioned by the United States Air Force Academy Wind Ensemble, this dramatic arrangement breathes new life into the time-honored patriotic hymn.

Aaron Copland
1900 - 1990

Hoe-down (from Rodeo) – Aaron Copland

One of the most respected composers of the 20th century, Copland incorporated popular forms of American music into his compositions and created classical music that was uniquely American. His ballet Rodeo is a celebration of the Old West, and was commissioned by the classical Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, a dance company that moved to the U. S. during WWII. They hired Agnes de Mille as choreographer; she talked a reluctant Copland into a collaboration that became famous in American dance and musical history. The ballet premiered in 1942 at the Metropolitan Opera House and received 22 curtain calls.

Greg Gilpin
b. 1969

Larry Clark
b. 1963

Armed Forces - The Pride of America! – arr. Greg Gilpin; orchestration by Larry Clark

Greg Gilpin and Larry Clark have created the definitive patriotic American musical presentation with this medley of songs from five military branches and marches from John Philip Sousa and Edwin Eugene Bagley, culminating in our National Anthem. "Land of the free, because of the brave!"