Battle Songs

Composed in 2006, Battle Songs recounts the events/effects of four major battles of pre-WWII United States wars--the battle of Concord (Revolutionary War), the battle of Buena Vista (Mexican-American War), the battle of Shiloh (Civil War), and the battle of Ypres (World War I). The battle of Concord is represented by Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn" (1837), the battle of Buena Vista by Theodore O'Hara's "The Bivouac of the Dead" (1847), the battle of Shiloh by Herman Melville's "Shiloh: A Requiem" (1862), and the battle of Ypres by John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields" (1915). --Michael Rickelton The recordings in the audio player to the right feature Bart LeFan, baritone, and Jerome Reed, piano. Used with permission of the composer.