Copland, Lincoln Portrait

Soon after the United States was drawn into World War II, André Kostelanetz approached three American composers with the suggestion of composing three musical portraits of eminent Americans, to express the 'magnificent spirit of our country.' The proposal resulted in Virgil Thomson's "The Mayor La Guardia Waltzes', Jerome Kern's "Portrait for Orchestra of Mark Twain', and Copland's "Lincoln Portrait". The score is dedicated to André Kostelanetz, who conducted the first performance at a pension fund concert of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Cincinnati on 14 May 1942. Our concert featuring the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein was recorded in London in 1976.