Concert Remembers and Honors 9/11 Victims

Organist Michael Batcho prepares for the “Songs of Remembrance” concert. Photo by Rick Bate.

In the early days of World War I, British poet Laurence Binyon wrote the elegy “For the Fallen.” The poem’s most famous passage, “At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them,” has inspired local musicians to curate a concert honoring those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. “Songs of Remembrance” will be performed on Friday, Sept. 11, the 25th anniversary of the attacks, at All Saints’ Cathedral in downtown Milwaukee. The concert is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by the American Guild of Organists Milwaukee Chapter and All Saints’ Cathedral, the performance will present organ and choral music that recalls the heartache of the attacks and reflective compositions evoking peace and faith. Musicians collaborating for the event are organists Michael Batcho, Lee Erickson and David Bahrke; trumpeter Carlot Dorvé; and APERI, an early music vocal ensemble in residence at All Saints’ Cathedral.

Also playing a role in the program are the cathedral’s Bells of Remembrance and Hope, a set of bells installed in 2007 and rung daily. The bells will peal and APERI will sing “Ode of Remembrance,” an anthem based on Binyon’s poem written for the dedication of the bells by local organist and composer Joseph Kucharski.

All Saints’ organist Lee Erickson will open the program with the work perhaps most associated with public mourning in America: “Adagio for Strings,” written by Samuel Barber (1910-1981) and transcribed for organ by William Strickland (1914-1991). Composed in 1936 for string quartet and subsequently arranged for string orchestra, the Adagio has often commemorated solemn occasions after it was broadcast in 1945 with radio announcements of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. “If any music can come close to conveying the effect of a sigh, or courage in the face of tragedy, or hope, or abiding love, it is this,” wrote Johanna Keller in The New York Times.

Armenian-American composer Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000) described “Prayer of St. Gregory” as “a prayer in darkness.” Written in 1946, the piece depicts the fervent entreaties of the patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Gregory the Illuminator, during his 12 years of imprisonment in a burial pit in the third century. David Bahrke, director of music and organist at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, West Allis, and trumpeter Carlot Dorvé will perform the piece. Dorvé is on the faculty of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music.

Michael Batcho, organist at Christ Church, Whitefish Bay, has chosen compositions that communicate quiet comfort. The expressive “Chant de paix” (Song of Peace) by French organist and composer Jean Langlais (1907-1991) was written during World War II. “Prière” (Prayer) by Belgian organist and composer Joseph Jongen (1873-1953) conveys serenity.

APERI’s repertoire for this concert includes “Burial Sentences,” a moving 17th century choral work by Welsh composer Thomas Tompkins (1572-1656) based on the funeral liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer; “And I Saw a New Heaven,” a setting of Revelation 21:1-4 by British-born composer Edgar Bainton (1880-1956); and “Song for Athene” by John Tavener (1944-2013). The group is directed by Paul Thompson.

“Songs of Remembrance” begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 11, at All Saints’ Cathedral, 818 E. Juneau Ave. Admission is free. A freewill offering will benefit the Tunnel to Towers organization. Parking is available at Lincoln Center School, 820 E. Knapp St., and Immanuel Presbyterian Church, 1100 N. Astor St.

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