“I never meant to write a symphony . . . ”
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     This opens the Notes from the Composer in the printed program for the premiere in 1996 of Mountain Laurels: A Choral Symphony.  The Notes go on to explain the genesis of my magnum opus and may be read in the program so beautifully designed by Lanny Sommese. Now I can see that the project is unique in music history, in its scope: beginning with a solo voice alone on stage, and concluding with a symphony orchestra accompanying two large choirs, one on stage and the other in the top tier of the concert hall; in its celebration of the poetry of a community through a century; and in the organization of the architecture and logistics of the performance so that there was never a moment when the audience had to wait while music stands or risers or performers were moved into place. It was a seamless performance, enabled by the stellar work of two collaborators: Lea Asbell-Swanger of Eisenhower Auditorium, who brilliantly designed and then coordinated the various performing areas in the vast expanse of the space; and Russell Bloom, who coordinated the movements onstage and backstage of some 1000 performers, from schoolchildren to adults, from solo harp to chamber ensembles and orchestras.  Both Lea and Russell were acknowledged in the program.  But now, as you read the program, look at the scores, and listen to the recording, you must know that Mountain Laurels was one of the most impressive and awesome of live performances, which these materials can only hint at.  If only we had video-recorded the work –  but we do have the magnificent CD, recorded and edited by the indefatigable Kent Klouser.  And we do have the program, where you can read the genesis of the project and learn about the literary history of our community from Charlie Mann.  You can also read the poems, learn about the poets and performers, and peruse the names. 

     Mountain Laurels was always about the poets and their poems.  Even the title is a tribute to them.  I thank these 17 poet collaborators.  And I thank the nearly 1000 performers and their conductors who brought the words and music to life.  

     So now the house lights in Eisenhower Auditorium darken; the stage lights come up on two singers, a harpist and her instrument.  And the inspiring words of Fred Lewis Pattee sing out. The magic begins . . . 

OLD MAINIA: The Pennsylvania State College Radio Hour
Texts drawn from Froth, The Penn State Humor Magazine 1910 - 1970's
Combined Choruses and the State College Municipal Band, Ned C. Deihl, Conductor;  Jane Ridley, narrator (The Voice of Old Main).
     The second part of Mountain Laurels was conceived as an entertainment in the form of a vintage 1940s radio variety show. The texts were drawn from student humor publications through the decades and the show was designed to provide a vivid contrast to the staid concert formats for Parts I and II. 
     I found a treasure trove of humor - poems, snippets, and satirical verses – that I knew would be appropriate for and appreciated by our smaller ensembles: the Hilos from the Glee Club, Discantus from Oriana Singers, and most especially by the Nittany Knights Barbershop Chorus. This disparate material was assembled into sets –  with more punning titles starting with Old Mainia – alluding to the historic building on campus –  Old Main.  Frothiana is an obvious allusion to the choral classic by Randall Thompson and Robert Frost – Frostiana – the initial inspiration for this project.  Frothy Encores followed suit, with a double pun for Discantus with The Descant of Man and the Hilos spoof on college life, The Grooves of Academe.
     The Radio Hour opened with an overture for band, an instrumental version of dandelions, the tune that the children’s chorus had just sung in Mother Nature. Then we hear the voice of Old Main, played superbly by Jane Ridley from the School of Theatre. She guides us through the madcap assembly of songs.  But the Radio Hour also included a heavy dose of nostalgia since Froth often featured tributes to campus traditions with songs from the classes. Most touchingly, The Willow, about the beloved ancient tree on the Mall that was said to have come from a cutting from a willow in the garden of English poet Alexander Pope in Twickenham, England. The Willow is featured after the Overture and then concludes the Radio Hour as the final number in a medley of college songs, all settings of nostalgic sentimental texts from Froth.   

THE DESCANT OF MAN  Three Evolutionary Love Songs for SSA, piano and optional string bass.
Composer’s Note: The title is a triple pun on both Charles Darwin’s The Descent of Man (1871) and the name of the choral group for which the set was written, Discantus, the small elite ensemble from the Oriana Singers at Penn State. With their ebullient choral and piano writing and the feisty texts from the 1940s that poke fun at men and their sexual urges, The Descant of Man enables women to celebrate their own identity with humor and sauciness.
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You can purchase the out of print octavos for less than a tamale ($1.00).  Download the scores and listen to the premiere performances by the inimitable women of Discantus. These pieces are ideal for progressive high school and college women, as well as women of experience.  Audiences will delight in the rare treat of truly bawdy and cartoonish humor, all presented with smiles and laughter.

WILLOW SONGS: An Old College Medley for chorus and band.
Combined Choruses and the State College Municipal Band, Ned C. Deihl, Conductor.
View the Willow Songs poems.  View the full score. 
After a choral lifetime of singing, researching, assembling and conducting and recording college songs at Columbia during my student days and as Glee Club Director and then as a faculty member at Penn State, I was delighted to compose a set of original college songs using some very lovely and lyrical – and yes, sentimental and nostalgic – texts from Froth, just as Fred Waring was moved to write several college songs for Penn State, his alma mater. Willow Songs fills a special niche in Mountain Laurels and I hope they will become part of the repertory of Penn State songs.  I hope you, dear listener, will enjoy hearing them – and maybe even sing along. 

EPILOGUE: The Fire Elms by J. Jason Charnesky. For choir and piano.  Original version for two choirs and orchestra. 
Penn State University Choir, Anthony Leach, Director 
State College Choral Society, Nittany Valley Symphony, D. Douglas Miller, Conductor.
View the SATB and piano score.  Listen to live performance with orchestra. 
After I had selected and organized the poems for Mountain Laurels, I realized that no poet had penned a tribute to our beloved landmark, the Nittany Mountain. I asked Jason Charnesky if he would write a text about the icon of Happy Valley.  He provided “The Mountain” for the beginning of the choral symphony.  But he also wrote a poem honoring the iconic arbor on the Mall, “The Fire Elms.” The symphony could not have a more fitting conclusion than the one Jason Charnesky provided. And the concluding lines generated a lyric and musical leitmotif that occurs at keystone moments of the symphony and ties it all together.
 

The Elms on the Mall