Dorman LETTERS FROM GETTYSBURG

Avner Dorman

texts compiled by Avner Dorman

LETTERS FROM GETTYSBURG

for mixed chorus and percussion

From the G. Schirmer Rental Library

Date of Printing________________

G. Schirmer, Inc.

New York, NY

Avner Dorman

LETTERS FROM

GETTYSBURG

for mixed chorus and percussion

Commissioned by Gettysburg College (2013) in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War.

G. Schirmer, Inc.

New York, NY

1. Kiss Me Mother

Kiss me mother, pray for me. Dark and cloudy my mind has been, But the Lord never left my side

Mother, sister, sit by my side.

Mother, sister. Oh that my mother and sister were here.

2. I have thought I… I have… I have thought… I have thought best to write to you this time So that I may get… I may get… a letter from you in return.

I… I don’t… I don’t have good opportunity To write very often… very often… nor is it necessary.

As I… I have… I have nothing… I have nothing of importance to communicate.

3. Battle

(in the background - Ammunition / Ammunition - sixty rounds a piece / Ammunition, new position / Supposition / Expedition, repetition / Bear in mind your admonitions / Disposition to be made of / But this prohibition / Sanitary / Sanitary, military / Military honors - of his soldier grave / Monetary, secretary / prejudicial official / All around us and exploded / to be found / blood / So much blood and suffering / guns / 21 guns being fired / death / mud / rain / pain / contain again / plain / remain / remains / fires all night / battle-field / reap the field)

A shell which struck our rear hit a large stack of guns Killed a captain lieutenant and took off the arm and leg and another shot wounded seven and left fifteen dead

Ten thousand at least. Painful!

Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood! Blood!

If it was worth fighting for then it must be so! It must be so!

Bloody battles have been fought here. Muddy marching heavy knapsacks. I have been into a battle where many were shot around me and came out with… …and came out without a scratch

Ah! Painful!

4. Since I was wounded

This is the first time I have attempted to write you a word since I was wounded. It’s hard lying here so… hardly able to move around in my bed. Writing with my wounded arm… can you see?

Oh, how I want to be home with you all… I miss…

Mother, sister ‘tis the same ball which went through my right arm, right lung… where it has lodged

I’m keeping up good courage. I’m in a good place. O pray for me mother, that I may have grace and strength to…

I… can write… no more… now Since I was… I was wounded.

My dear husband, I hardly know what to say. Pray for me and him too.

Husband, mother, and child

5. Dear Brave Boy

May God give us grace to bear all we may be called upon to do. Pray for me too.

Oh my husband, can we part with our dear brave boy?

Program Note:

Letters from Gettysburg is based on letters written by 1st Lieutenant Rush P. Cady –Co. K, 97th New York Infantry, who was wounded during the Battle of Gettysburg and died a few weeks later; some text is also from a letter written by his mother at his deathbed.

Peter Carmichael, the Director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, first suggested the source text for this piece to me. As I was reading the letters, I realized that by focusing on the experiences of a single soldier and his family I could tell a universal story. The story of a young soldier – naïve, brave, committed, and ultimately – still a child, and the worries and pain that war inflicts on his family.

There are wonderful paradoxes that run through this collection of letters. On the one hand, Rush repeatedly minimizes the importance of his own words with phrases such as “I have nothing of importance to communicate.” On the other hand, in some letters he expresses very strong political convictions and presents them very convincingly. Even after he is wounded, he makes the effort to send a positive message to his parents, “I’m keeping up good courage, I’m in a good place,” when it is obvious that he is in a lot of pain.

The composition is written in five movements organized in a symmetrical arc form. The first and last movements use text from the letter Rush’s mother wrote at his deathbed to his father. The first movement focuses on Rush’s plea to his mother to kiss him and pray for him, while the last movement focuses on Mrs. Cady’s inability to deal with her son’s impending death.

Movements two and four quote letters written by Rush to his family. The former uses the opening of the earliest letter in the collection – long before the Battle of Gettysburg, while the latter is taken from the first letter Rush wrote to his parents after being wounded in the battle.

Movement three, titled “Battle,” uses words, fragments, and sentences, taken from many different letters, all depicting the pain and horror of war.

—Avner Dorman

Tubular Bells 1 (stage left)

Tubular Bells 2 (stage right)

1. “Kiss Me Mother”

2. “I Have Thought”

Moderato q = 88

Timpani 2

Toms Marimba 1 Marimba 2

Tubular Bells 1

Tubular Bells 2

improvise on the boxed pitches using the attached text phrases avoid repeating the same pattern again and again

"Ammunition / Ammunition - sixty rounds a piece / Ammunition, new position / Supposition / Expedition, repetition / Bear in mind your admonitions / Disposition to be made of / But this prohibition / Sanitary / Sanitary, military / Military honors - of his soldier grave / Monetary, secretary / prejudicial official / All around us and exploded / to be found / blood / So much blood and suffering / guns / 21 guns being fired / death / mud / rain / pain / contain again / plain / remain / remains / fires all night / battle-field / reap the field"

struck

"Ammunition / Ammunition - sixty rounds a piece / Ammunition, new position / Supposition / Expedition, repetition / Bear in mind your admonitions / Disposition to be made of / But this prohibition / Sanitary / Sanitary, military / Military honors - of his soldier grave / Monetary, secretary / prejudicial official / All around us and exploded / to be found / blood / So much blood and suffering / guns / 21 guns being fired / death / mud / rain / pain / contain again / plain / remain / remains / fires all night / battle-field / reap the field"

improvise on the boxed pitches using the attached text phrases avoid repeating the same pattern again and again

"Ammunition / Ammunition - sixty rounds a piece / Ammunition, new position / Supposition / Expedition, repetition / Bear in mind your admonitions / Disposition to be made of / But this prohibition / Sanitary / Sanitary, military / Military honors - of his soldier grave / Monetary, secretary / prejudicial official / All around us and exploded / to be found / blood / So much blood and suffering / guns / 21 guns being fired / death / mud / rain / pain / contain again / plain / remain / remains / fires all night / battle-field / reap the field"

lowest pitch possible

Bars 85 through 103 are sung ad libitum by the Sopranos, Altos, and Basses (an octave lower) Each section should divide into four sections and sing asychronously, as indicated Tenors enter, as indicated, in bar 91 and remain tacet after bar 98

pattern ad

, ossia 8va ornamental, as fast as possible, vary pattern ad lib., ossia 8va

ornamental, as fast as possible, vary pattern ad lib , ossia 8va

Marimba 1 Marimba 2

Since I was since I was since I was since I was

'tis the same ball which went through my

the

through my

since I was since I was since I was since I was

Tubular Bells 1

Tubular Bels 2

Glockenspiel

Vibraphone

Marimba 1

Marimba 2

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook