"Gettysburg, November 19,1863"

Written for Brass Quintet, Vibs, and SATB Choir

Selected parts of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war testing whether (this) nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure.

We dedicate this field for those who gave their lives: That (this) nation might live; That for us the living dedicated to the unfinished work for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; And that this government of the people by the people for the people shall not perish from the earth."

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Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809.

During his first 40 years Lincoln suffered an unusually large number of life setbacks; - defeat for state and national office eight times, - rejections for political leadership three times, - lost job, - business failure, - bankruptcy, - death of a fiancee, - a nervous breakdown with 6 months in bed

On March 4, 1861 he was inaugurated as president of the United States with The Civil War beginning 5 weeks later)

On November 19, 1863, one half way through the American Civil War, Lincoln delivered his 2 minute speech dedicating the bural grounds at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

On April 15, 1865, 5 weeks after his second inaugural and one week after the surrender of the Confederacy, Lincoln died of an assassin's bullet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Rev 3-19-04)

Note From Richard - Although I offer this work as original, it is subject to revisions of text and notation for clarity, and accuracy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~