The Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition

Announcing the Third Annual 2009-10 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition for new settings of poetry, prose or translation by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow for 1) Chorus and Piano, or 2) Tenor Voice and Piano or 3) Chorus and Orchestra (Cantata settings). [SEE BELOW]

View the Winners of the 2008-09 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition.

I think the performance does great credit to all involved. As a past holder of the office of International Co-ordinator to The Elgar Society, I am delighted that this wonderful — and rarely heard — cantata has received such an excellent and committed performance in America.

Paul Adrian Rooke, commenting on the performance of Elgar's The Black Knight by the Longfellow Chorus.

The concerts were superb — especially the Sunday concert, every second of which was pure joy. The Longfellow settings were expertly and sensitively honed, with heart-warming dedication and masterful musical insight — even now fragments of melody continue to play in my head. As for the Elgar, the music was a revelation, and the performance a sensation. I could tell that the audience realised what a privileged bunch they were. Hearty congratulations to your outstanding chorus, company of musicians — and their inspirational conductor.

Kevin Jones, one of the 2008-09 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition winning composers

2008-09 Longfellow Chorus Award of Distinction Winner Maxim Vladirmoff discusses his Longfellow composition, The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls, in iconthis MP3 from the March 1, 2009, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 202nd Birthday Choral Concert.

Charles Kaufmann has single-handedly resurrected an interest in Longfellow and how Longfellow's poetry has been set to music in the past; and, in addition, he has inspired composers world-wide to create new music set to Longfellow's poetry.

—Lily Gordon, trustee, Longfellow's Wayside Inn National Historic Site

This year there are three divisions of The 2009-10 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition. Composers are limited to one entry in each category. Follow the links below to learn about rules, prizes, deadlines and submission format for each category:

PRINT RESOURCES:

Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life, Charles A. Calhoun
Beacon Press, 2005, 317pp; ISBN 0-8070-7026-2
The first Longfellow biography in over fifty years.

Longfellow, Poems and other Writings, J. D. McClatchy, editor
Library of America, 2000
802pp; ISBN 1-883011-85-x
The most complete collection of Longfellow writings, biography and time-line available.

WEB RESOURCES:

hwlongfellow.org of The Maine Historical Society

The Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge, Mass.

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"A Boy's Will," the second in our CD series of Longfellow music, is now available. This 2 CD set, with an informative 8-page booklet, features The Longfellow Chorus and soloists. A Boy's Will contains the premiere performances from our 2007-08 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition, and historical songs and choral settings of Longfellow poems. $18.00 plus shipping.






















































































































































































































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The Longfellow Chamber Chorus, Aug. 3, 2008
at Longfellow National Historic Site

COMPETITION AUDIO RESOURCES:

LISTEN to highlights from The Longfellow Chorus's innovative March 1, 2009, performance of Edward Elgar's Longfellow Cantata,
icon The Black Knight, conducted by Charles Kaufmann

Listen to winning choruses and songs from the second annual, 2008-2009, Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition:

2008-09 COMPETITION CHORUSES


The Longfellow Chorus sings
icon Christmas Bells, by Kevin Jones

Can you solve the musical cipher hidden within Christmas Bells? Email your solution to Dr. Jones

The Longfellow Chorus sings
icon Nature, by Stanley M. Hoffman

Interested in Nature? Send an email inquiry to Dr. Hoffman

The Longfellow Chorus sings
icon Snow-Flakes, by Graeme Hopson

Interested in Snow-Flakes? Send an email inquiry to Graeme Hopson

The Longfellow Chorus sings
icon The Day Is Done, by Valerie Crescenz

Interested in The Day Is Done? Send an email inquiry to Valerie Crescenz

The Longfellow Chamber Chorus sings
icon The TIde Rises, The Tide Falls, by Maxim Vladirmoff

Interested in The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls? Send an email inquiry to the Maxim Vladimiroff

The Longfellow Chorus sings
icon It Is Not Always May, by Elaine Hagenbeg

Interested in It Is Not Always May? Send an email inquiry to the Elaine Hagenberg

2008-09 COMPETITION SONGS

Bass-baritone John D. Adams sings
icon Autumn Within, for solo bass-baritone and piano, by Traci Mendel

Interested in Autumn Within? Send an email inquiry to Dr. Mendel

Bass-baritone John D. Adams sings
icon All' Illustrissimo Signor Professore Lowell: Prescrizione Per Il Mal Di Gola, (Aria buffa per voce di Basso Cantante con accompagnamento di pianoforte), for solo bass-baritone and piano, by Riccardo La Spina.

Interested in Prescrizione and the only known gargling cadenza in the literature? Send an email inquiry to Riccardo La Spina

Tenor Mark Sprinkle (next year's competition soloist) sings
icon Endymion, for solo tenor and piano, by Klaus Miehling.

Interested in Endymion? Send an email inquiry to Dr. Miehling

Bass-baritone John D. Adams sings
icon The Challenge, for solo bass-baritone and piano, by Marienne Kreitlow

Interested in The Challenge? Send an email inquiry to Marienne Kreitlow

Listen to winning songs and choral compositions from last year's 2007-2008 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition

iconAutumn Within, for soprano and piano, by Melissa Tosh, Redlands, California
(Autumn Within, copyright 2007, Melissa Tosh)
Sung by Heidi Kim, soprano

iconTwilight, for soprano and piano, by William Pardus, Keene, New Hampshire
(Twilight, copyright 2007, William Pardus)
Sung by Sarah Johnson, soprano

iconThe Old Bridge at Florence, for soprano and piano, by Emanuela Ballio, Milan, Italy
(The Old Bridge at Florence, copyright 2007, Emanuela Ballio)
Sung by Heidi Kim, soprano

iconThe Singers, by Bob Moore, Jacksonville, Florida
(The Singers, copyright 2007, Bob Moore)
Sung by The Longfellow Chorus

Interested in The Singers? Send an email inquiry to Bob Moore

iconThe Singers, by David Hamilton, Auckland, New Zealand.
Sung by The Longfellow Chorus, Stuart Bailey, tenor solo.

Interested in The Singers? Send an email inquiry to the David Hamilton

iconDaybreak, by Christopher Wicks, Silverton, Oregon.
(Daybreak, copyright 2007, Christopher Wicks)
Sung by The Longfellow Chamber Chorus—the background bird-chirping is from the Longfellow Chamber Chorus's live recording, made on Longfellow's side porch, Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge, MA, August 3, 2008

icon The Slave Singing at Midnight, by Peter J. Durow, Clearwater, Florida
(The Slave Singing at Midnight, copyright 2007, Peter J. Durow)
Sung by The Longfellow Chorus, Bill Wieting, baritone solo

icon Finale from Tales of a Wayside Inn, Pt. I, by Micky Landau, Valparaiso, Chile
(Finale, copyright 2007, Micky Landau)
Sung by The Longfellow Chamber Chorus

icon A Psalm of Life, by Jason Heald, Roseburg, Oregon
(A Psalm of Life, copyright 2007, Jason Heald)
Sung by The Longfellow Chorus

iconJugurtha by Daniel Morel, Denver, Colorado
(Jugurtha, copyright 2007, by Daniel Morel)
Sung by the Longfellow Chamber Chorus

iconChristmas Bells, by Lauren Bernofsky, Bloomington, Indiana
(Christmas Bells, copyright 2007, Lauren Bernofsky)
Sung by The Longfellow Chorus
iconAnother version of Bernofsky's Christmas Bells -- The Longfellow Chamber Chorus sings at Longfellow's Wayside Inn (Director Charles Kaufmann reads the poem).

Interested in Christmas Bells? Send an email inquiry to the Lauren Bernofsky

iconSnow-Flakes, (Second Prize, Ithaca Competition 2007), by Charles Kaufmann, Director, The Longfellow Chorus
Sung by The Longfellow Chorus
View a partial score pdf of Snow-Flakes

Purchase the sheet music for Snow-Flakes from The Lygonia Press

LISTEN to historical settings of Longfellow poems. All audio selections copyright, 2007-2008, The Longfellow Chorus. Not including Nocte Surgentes and Ships that Pass in the Night, these tracks have been released in February, 2008, in the double CD set, "Afternoon in February."

iconTHE SLAVE'S DREAM, Johan Gustav Emil Sjoegren, 1853-1918
John D. Adams, bass-baritone; Shirley Curry, piano

iconMY ARM CHAIR, T. L. Jephson, 1808-1897
John D. Adams, bass-baritone; Joyce Moulton, pianist

iconA PSALM OF LIFE , Sourindro Mohun Tagore, 1840-1914
John D. Adams, bass-baritone; David Pontbriand, sitar; Amos Libby, tabla

iconEXCELSIOR!, Sourindro Mohun Tagore, 1840-1914
Timothy Neill Johnson, tenor; David Pontbriand, sitar

iconNOCTE SURGENTES from The Golden Legend, Arthur Sullivan, 1842-1900
The Longfellow Chorus, Charles Kaufmann, dir.; Albert Melton plays the 1997 Austin organ; Mo Blanchard, sexton, the 1862 Tower Bell of First Parish, Portland

iconSHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT, 1914, Thomas Wilkinson Stephenson, 1855- ? (arr. Kaufmann)
The Longfellow Chorus, Charles Kaufmann, dir.; Shirley Curry, piano
(Can Clara Butt do it better?)

iconAFTERNOON IN FEBRUARY, Emanuel Abraham Aguilar, 1824-1904
Heidi Kim, soprano; Shirley Curry, pianist.

iconSUNDOWN, Frederic H. Cowen, 1852-1935
Heidi Kim, soprano; Shirley Curry, pianist

iconBEWARE, Benjamin Britten (first composition, age 11)
Maggie Vishneau, soprano; The Longfellow Chorus; Joyce Molton, pianist

iconTHE VILLAGE BLACKSMITH, John L. Hatton, 1808-1886
The Longfellow Chorus, Charles Kaufmann, director

iconFOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS, Clara Angela Macirone, 1821-1895
The Longfellow Chorus

iconFOOTSTEPS OF ANGELS, "Miss Davis," ca. 1865
Sarah Johnson, soprano; Shirley Curry, pianist

An excerpt from iconHIAWATHA'S WEDDING FEAST, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, 1875-1912.
The Longfellow Chorus; Shirley Curry, pianist

iconSING TO US, O CHIBIABOS! Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, 1875-1895
The Longfellow Chorus; Shirley Curry, pianist

iconONAWAY, AWAKE, BELOVED, 1898, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, 1875-1912
Timothy Neill Johnson, tenor; Shirley Curry, pianist

An excerpt from iconHIAWATHA'S DEPARTURE, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, 1875-1912
The Longfellow Chorus; Shirley Curry, pianist; Albert Melton, organist

iconHO! WATCHMAN, HO!, John Liptrot Hatton, 1809-1886
The Women of the Longfellow Chorus; Shirley Curry, pianist

icon
THE RAINY DAY, John Liptrot Hatton
Maggie Vishneau, soprano; Charles Kaufmann, pianist

iconTHE DREARY DAY, 1860, Faustina Hodges
Maggie Vishneau, soprano; Joyce Moulton, pianist

iconTHE RAINY DAY, 1867, Arthur Sullivan, 1842-1900
The Longfellow Chorus; Shirley Curry, piano

Could a unison choral work win the 2008 Longfellow Competition? Had there been one in 1850, Faustina Hodges might have won with this unison entry:

iconA PSALM OF LIFE, 1850, Faustina Hasse Hodges, 1823-1895.
The Longfellow Chorus; John Boden, ca. 1820 cor piston horn after Halary; Shirley Curry, piano; Albert Melton, organ.

iconSTARS OF A SUMMER NIGHT, Benjamin Franklin Baker, 1811-1889.
The Longfellow Chorus Quartet—Timothy Neill Johnson, Stuart Bailey, Jim Bishop and John D. Adams—sings this mid-1840's setting of one of Longfellow's most frequently sung poems. (This is the original manuscript version; in the published version, Baker changed the harmonies).

iconGOOD_NIGHT, BELOVED, 1895, W. G. Sired
The Men of the Longfellow Chorus
View the winners of the 2008-09 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition.

The Longfellow Chorus reserves the right not to appoint award winners lacking entries of the highest quality.

This year there are three divisions of The 2009-10 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition. Composers are limited to one entry in each category. Follow the links below to learn about rules, prizes, deadlines and submission format for each category:


Mission Statement of The Longfellow Chorus, Inc.:

"The Corporation shall organize and maintain a chorus to perform and record vocal and choral settings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poetry, written from 1840 to the present, shall inspire and commission new vocal and choral settings of Longfellow's poetry, and shall perform choral music of the Romantic and immediate post-Romantic eras, ca. 1825-1920."

All materials on this Web-site are protected by copyright of Charles Kaufmann, The Lygonia Press, The Longfellow Chorus, Inc., The Longfellow National Historic Site, Bowdoin College, Houghton Library, Harvard College, The First Parish in Portland, UUA, and/or the Maine Historical Society.

e-mail: The Longfellow Chorus

The Longfellow Chorus
c/o Charles Kaufmann
P. O. Box 5133
Portland, Maine 04101

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