Heritage Music Press
15/3080H, SATB, $2.35
Date released: 2014

This beloved speech by Abraham Lincoln, once memorized by school children all across America, has been dramatically scored for SATB voices and piano by master composer Mark Hayes. Perfect for school choirs, community choruses and church choirs alike, this through-composed work is approximately 5-1/2 minutes long and is full of inspirational moments. It begins with a stately introduction and introduces the famous “Four-score and seven years ago” phrase in a heroic motif sung by the men and echoed by the women. Hayes has created true text painting utilizing modal melodies, stark dynamic contracts, tender a cappella sections and a thrilling, soul-stirring climax.
Consider programming this for a patriotic or memorial concert, or any program that celebrates the heritage of our great country and the soldiers who have died to protect it. Jeffrey Williams of The New York Concert Review says, “It is a powerful work that does justice to Lincoln’s immortal words.”

The Gettysburg Address can be performed effectively with piano accompaniment alone or with one of the three instrumentations available.