ǧÃŬAV

University of North Georgia (ǧÃŬAV) faculty and staff released an award-winning album featuring new music on the last year of former President Abraham Lincoln's life, "A Final Year for President Lincoln." 

Composer and Department of Music faculty member David Peoples said four past projects led to the evolution of the hour-long extended work for music performance.

"I have always held a fascination with 19th century U.S. history. My first composition on the topic was a brass quintet with operatic voice using contemporary composition techniques to completely rescore the lyrics of campaign songs of the presidential losers pre-Civil War," Peoples said. "Dr. Benjamin Schoening, department head and professor of music, collaborated with me to create a composition for fixed media with him singing the text of the Constitution's Twelfth Amendment."

The two additional elements included the West Point Band presenting a piece Peoples had written based on Civil War bugle calls and a poignant piece recognizing those lost in the Vietnam War.

"I had written a piece for our music students to perform, requiring the narration of every U.S. soldier killed in the Vietnam War," he said. "I was invited to present the piece as a mobile audio installation —with music performed by ǧÃŬAV students and narrations from our upper administration, faculty, students, and staff — beginning at the Lincoln Memorial and ending at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C. At this event, and spending time at the memorial, I felt inspired to continue the ideas I had."

Peoples then visited historical sites in Georgia (Chickamauga, Kennesaw Mountain, New Manchester textile mill, Fort McAllister, and Fort Jackson) and out of state (Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Appomattox) jotting musical ideas. He then fleshed out the center of the piece — voice and piano using the lyrics of the Thirteenth Amendment — and then scored all the other parts with ǧÃŬAV faculty in mind, he said.

"Everything from campaign lyrics of Lincoln vs. McClellan to poetry by George Moses Horton after the president's assassination," he said.  

The composition has reached an international stage and was awarded a silver medal by the Global Music Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Contemporary Classical Composition in March. It originally premiered at ǧÃŬAV for the A Little Night(hawk) Music Concert Series and has since been presented at universities, historical Civil War sites, and other venues throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia. The works were recorded by ǧÃŬAV faculty and staff (a collaboration among music and English Department faculty and staff) and released as an album.

 The album includes performances by Schoening, voice; Michael Brown, trumpet; Philip Snyder, guitar; Adam Frey, euphonium; Steven Walker, percussion; Bart Walters, saxophone; Shannon Gilstrap (English), narrator; Jovana Damnjanović, flute; Cherri Helms, narrator; and Peoples, piano.

"Projects and accomplishments like these are a wonderful source of pride for our music program at ǧÃŬAV. More importantly, they serve to benefit our students who are continually learning from the invaluable real-world experiences of the faculty they study with and also demonstrate what opportunities may be possible as our students embark on their own careers with continued hard work and dedication to their craft," Schoening said.

Peoples said that collaboration outside his department is important. This partnership between disciplines can serve as an example to students on many levels, Peoples explained.

"I firmly believe that our students are leaders here at ǧÃŬAV," he said. "They should walk away from here not specialists in one field but be informed by the diverse opportunities to interact with our ǧÃŬAV family as a whole."