In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, here is Aaron Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, performed in 1991 by the Philadephia Orchestra, and narrated by Dr. J, Julius Erving:
One of my favorite pieces of music. I had the good fortune to take part in a performance of this myself, with the Trinity University Wind Symphony. One of our speech professors, Dr. Frances Swinney, did the narration. The ending, with the conclusion of the Address, gets me every time.