On October 30 at Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, the North Carolina Symphony will present “Battle Hymn of the Republic: Words and Music from the Civil War,” a morning concert commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Associate Conductor David Glover, along with special guests Dr. Kevin Cherry of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, tenor Scott MacLeod, and Civil War re-enactors, will lead the audience on a journey through the Civil War era with music, letters, and historical information. The musical selections will include Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, narrated by Dr. Cherry; “Oh Susannah,” “Old Dan Tucker,” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” performed by MacLeod; “Battle Hymn of the Republic”; and “Ashokan Farewell,” familiar as the theme to Ken Burns’s PBS series The Civil War. Letters from Civil War soldiers will be read from the stage, and artifacts from the North Carolina Office of Archives and History will be on view in the lobby before and after the concert.
Published October 24, 2014