A conductor's analysis of Theodore Morrison's War and Reconciliation

Abstract

Theodore Morrison (b. 1938) was involved with music at a very young age as singer, organist, and choirmaster. As his musical career prospered he grew as a teacher, conductor, and composer. His compositional output includes several large works for chorus, soloists and orchestra, and a substantial body of shorter works. The smaller works encompass an overture for wind ensemble, chamber pieces for woodwinds and strings, a sonata and a set of variations for organ, several works for chorus and organ, an a cappella mass, three song cycles, and numerous choral pieces and songs. This document presents a brief biographical introduction of Theodore Morrison, relevant biographical information about the poet Walt Whitman, history behind the poems from “Drum Taps” used within War and Reconciliation: An American Symphony, and a conductor’s analysis of the symphony. War and Reconciliation is Morrison’s most intricate composition to date, although he is currently writing a two-act opera on the trial and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde for David Daniels. War and Reconciliation is scored for tenor and baritone soloists, mixed chorus and orchestra. The fifty minute symphony sets seven of Walt Whitman’s American Civil War poems from the “Drum Taps” collection and demonstrates Morrison’s ability to combine the text and music into a meaningful artistic creation worthy of performance.