We Are Met at Gettysburg
Duration: ~ 15 minutes
Commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra
Premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra
Available from Adamo Press and Stone Circle Music
3,2,2,2; 4,3,3,1; timp; 3 percussion; children's choir; strings
Movements:
I. Honor and Sacrifice (composed by Amy Scurria)
II. Wounded Fields (composed by Heitzeg)
III. The Last Full Measure (co-composed by Heitzeg and Scurria)
(Movements available separately)
Commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra
From The Civil War News
Minnesota & Pennsylvania Composers Produce 'We Are Met At Gettysburg'
By Deborah Fitts
Feb./March 2003
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Minnesota Volunteers at Gettysburg is the inspiration for a new musical composition for full orchestra commissioned jointly by the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. The world premiere of the 18-minute piece, "We Are Met at Gettysburg," was performed Jan. 4 in Philadelphia as part of the Philadelphia Orchestra's Family Concert series. Aimed primarily at young listeners, by the end of March it will have been performed more than half a dozen times in Philadelphia and Minnesota.
The piece was prompted by Richard Moe's 1993 book The Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the 1st Minnesota Volunteers. The history concludes with the regiment's rendezvous with destiny at Gettysburg July 2, 1863, when fully 82 percent of the men were casualties - the highest percentage in a single engagement suffered by any Union unit during the war, according to Moe. [Editor's note: See review of Brian Leehan's book about the action in this issue.]
Gary Alan Wood, the Philadelphia Orchestra's education director, said a visit to the battlefield in the summer of 1999 planted the seed. Wood was en route to his new job in Philadelphia after serving in the same capacity for the Minnesota Orchestra, and decided to stop at Gettysburg to satisfy an interest in history.