“For the People,” An Oratorio Composed by Buzz Jones

By Alex McComas

The Fortenbaugh Lecture, long since a tradition in the town and college of Gettysburg, was this year preceded by a special composition of Gettysburg College’s own Professor John “Buzz” Jones. “For The People”, an oratorio on the life and interests of Abraham Lincoln as well as a musical glimpse of the political dynamics during the civil war, was met with a standing ovation and the expectations of its audience fully satisfied.

The presentation was premiered in shorter format at Mussleman Library’s Notes At Noon on the previous Tuesday, November 17 th, and performed in full at the Majestic Theater November 19 th. Kathleen Sasnett, Jeffrey Fahnstock, and Roosevelt Credit were the soprano, tenor, and bass-baritone singers, respectively. The Spires Brass Band and Sunderman Conservatory Woodwind Octet played the scores composed by Prof. Jones himself, and the Victorian Dance Ensemble performed in the piece “President’s Ball,” which featured excerpts of songs preferred by the Lincoln family. Professor Jones conducted the full ensemble himself, and film and Broadway actor Stephen Lang periodically strode on stage to narrate.

An incredible amount of study and work went into the composition of this oratorio. In the program for the concert/lecture, Dr. Jones’ notes to the audience explain that the oratorio has been in the making since 2008.

The performance was punctuated by quotes from Lincoln, the Bible, various speeches, and poems, inserted in the way Dr. Jones felt would best “create a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.” Each individual number, nine in total, was given specific thought and consideration, and each piece was essential to painting the portrait Dr. Jones wished to convey. There was no piece added as pretentious fluff, no number that worked only as a placeholder to waste the audience’s time. Every piece was necessary, and every piece explored different aspects of Lincoln’s personality and thoughts leaving the oratorio not only a masterpiece of the arts, but also a commanding work for academia.

Many were very pleased at the musicality of the production and the performance as a whole. Among those in attendance and appreciation was Katey Stauffer (’13) who went primarily to hear the Fortenbaugh lecture, yet had found herself enjoying the oratorio as well. “I thought it was a fitting tribute to Lincoln and I thought [Dr. Jones] incorporated Lincoln’s speeches very well into the pieces. Also, the singers did a wonderful job!”

Sarah Tuttle, a freshman and declared music major also expressed great admiration for Dr. Jones’ composition. ” Knowing some of the performers personally certainly had an effect on the way I listened to the performance, but the music itself was very engaging to listen to.”

As a whole, the Oratorio had a regal and remarkable atmosphere. Complimented by costumed men and women in the audience (adorned even with fans to cool themselves as might have happened a century and a half before) watchers could only behold the splendor of the evening through the awe a child might behold a bright bauble or ringing music box. The stage transformed into a window to the past, and all parts worked flawlessly in union with the others. The performance, if repeated, is something everyone should see, be it for the music, the academics, or for the experience it so graciously gives its audiences.