'Fellow citizens'

Mayor Michael Newhard narrated Aaron Copland’s "Lincoln Portrait" to music provided by the New York Wind Symphony Orchestra on Railroad Green as part of Fourth of July and Sesquicentennial festivities this week. Copland used material from speeches and letters of Abraham Lincoln and quoted original folk songs of the period, including "Camptown Races" and "Springfield Mountain." Copland finished Lincoln Portrait in April 1942. Among the words Copland chose were from Lincoln's Annual Message to Congress on Dec. 11, 1862: "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility."
Photos courtesy
of photographer Hank