This year’s winter performance includes the musical works of three 20^th century composers, one American and two Englishmen. The State College Choral Society will perform In Windsor Forest by Ralph Vaughan Williams, From the Bavarian Highlands by Sir Edward Elgar, and Frostiana by American composer Randall Thompson.

January 2001

• Randall Thompson (1899-1984) - Frostiana

  Come and experience typical New England landscapes and philosophical journeys through the poetry of American poet, Robert Frost, set to the music of Randall Thompson’s Frostiana.

  In 1958, the town fathers of Amherst, Massachusetts commissioned Thompson to write a musical composition to the poems of Robert Frost for the town’s 200^th anniversary celebration. The poet had lived and worked in the New England town.

  Since the two men were already acquainted through family connections, and Frost was an admirer of Thompson’s music, the two men collaborated on the selection of poems to be set to music.

  It took Thompson about three weeks to compose Frostiana while visiting in Gstaad, Switzerland in 1959. Frost was present at the premier performance on October 18, 1959, while Thompson conducted the choir, accompanied by piano. It was reported that at the conclusion of “Choose Something Like a Star,” Frost rose spontaneously from his seat, shouting, “Sing that again!”

• More about Randall Thompson can be found here .

• Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934) >From the Bavarian Highlands

  Although an Englishman, the music of Sir Edward Elgar will transport the audience to Southern Bavaria. The six choral songs, which make up the musical selections in From the Bavarian Highlands, found their inspiration from vacation holidays the Elgars spent in Southern Bavaria during the 1890’s. The Elgars enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the region and the nightly entertainment of local folk dancers. It was the poems of Lady Elgar that provided the setting for the Bavarian music. The happy melodies, which bear subtitles depicting the couple’s favorite places to visit, show the composer’s lighter vein and warmth.

• Here is a link with information about Elgar .