Poetic presidential speeches put to music

Nov. 19, 2009 | By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC
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Through Saturday, UCLA is hosting a grand opening for its new Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions.

The center specializes in a very broad topic: the history and underlying principles of civic institutions in a democracy. The opening events focus on Abraham Lincoln, a pillar of United States democracy, with discussions about his political thought, a play about his legendary campaign debates against Stephen Douglas, and a commissioned work of music titled “Lincoln Echoes.”

The piece incorporates orchestral music with spoken and sung quotes from Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Barack Obama. The composer, UCLA music professor David Lefkowitz, calls it a secular cantata. "A cantata would be a work for vocalists and accompaniment. It would be a statement of belief, some aspect of belief, and it would be meant to inspire those who are believers. So, everything I’ve just said applies to this except that the statements of belief are about American democracy."

Lefkowitz says partisanship didn’t guide his decision to include Obama’s speeches. He considers the 44th president’s rhetoric poetic and well suited for a musical composition. The composer adds that the inclusion of words from the first black president is a fitting tribute to Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation of the slaves.

“Lincoln Echoes” will be performed at 8 o'clock tonight at UCLA’s Schonberg Hall.

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