“AMERICANA:” Canticus Vocal Ensemble concert celebrates Declaration’s 250th anniversary | Arts And Entertainment

Canticus Vocal Ensemble will present “AMERICANA,” its final concert of the 2025-2026 season, at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 3, 2026, at Englewood Christian Church. It will be a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence that led to the creation of the United States of America.

The concert features music and texts highlighting the American Spirit of 1776.

“And what better writings represent that time than those of the author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson,” said Dr. Scott Peterson, creator and artistic director of the Canticus Vocal Ensemble.

The talented chamber choir will perform Randall Thompson’s “Testament of Freedom,” a four-movement setting of the words of Jefferson composed just before the American Revolution.

“The flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them,” Jefferson wrote in a letter to John Adams from September 12, 1821.

Originally written piece for the Virginia Glee Club while Thompson was teaching at the University of Virginia, it was meant to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of Thomas Jefferson. That’s why the text for “Testament of Freedom” was taken from Jefferson’s writings.

Thompson’s “Testament of Freedom” was first performed in April of 1943 when the United States was mired in World War II. Its premiere was recorded by CBS and broadcast nationwide. It was also transmitted by shortwave radio over the United States Office of War Information network to Allied servicemen stationed in Europe.

Several years later, on April 14, 1945, the four-movement piece was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, a concert in memory of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died two days earlier.

The words from “Testament of Freedom” are as fitting today as they were in the late 1770s and the 1940s.

A contemporary of Thomas Jefferson, William Billings is considered the first important American composer, Peterson said. He wrote collections of anthems and hymns that reflect the American Spirit of the time. Canticus will perform “Be Glad Then America,” which uses Biblical texts to form stirring harmonies.

“While the structure seems a bit disjointed,” notes Peterson, “each section reflects the text being sung in word painting or music literally portraying what is being said in the text.”

Billings certainly stood out in a crowd. Here’s how one of his contemporaries described him: “Billings was a singular man, of moderate size, short of one leg, with one eye, without any address and with an uncommon negligence of person. Still, he spake and sung and thought as a man above the common abilities.”

Canticus will also perform “Oh, America,” a contemporary song about immigrants by Brendan Graham and William Joseph. Here are the opening lines to the composition:

(Chorus)

O, America, you’re callin’

I can hear you calling me

You are calling me to be true to thee

True to thee, I will be

(Verse 1)

O, America, no weeping

Let me heal your wounded heart

I will keep you in my keeping

Till there be a new start

Peterson has also selected a piece from Aaron Copland’s opera, “The Tender Land,” a tribute to the settlement and building of the American heartland. The choir will perform one movement from that opera titled “The Promise of Living,” a moving work that looks to the future rise of a great nation.

Copland is often referred to as the “Dean of American Music” and is widely known for his works including “Appalachian Spring,” “Billy the Kid,” “Rodeo,” and “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

“Woke Up This Morning” is also on the program for the May 3rd concert. It’s an old freedom song that gained prominence during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. It’s arranged by Jeffrey Douma, professor in the Practice of Choral Music at the Yale School of Music.

Finally, Canticus Vocal Ensemble will finish the concert and its 11th season with their traditional closer, “If Music Be The Food Of Love” by David C. Dickau.

Peterson said Canticus has ended the past few seasons with this piece because it expresses why they do what they do — which is to work hard toward the highest level of artistic accomplishment possible: “If Music be the food of love, sing on!”

Peterson, founder of Canticus, has been a commanding presence in choral music for several decades having served as Director of Choral Activities at Yakima Valley College and Chorus Master of the Yakima Symphony Chorus. He once served as adjunct professor of Choral Music at Central Washington University.

Canticus also boasts of a skilled collaborative pianist, Anne Schilperoort. She operates a teaching studio in Yakima and has worked with Peterson since 1990, performing with church choirs, college choirs and the Yakima Symphony Chorus.