Autumn Leaves by DePauw Men of Note

Frank Jacobs '66 arranged this version of Autumn Leaves for DePauw University's Men of Note as a student, complemented by Linda Coleman '66 playing marimba during campus concerts in the 1960s. Here, 14 Men of Note alumni perform it a cappella during their reunion concert at DePauw on June 14, 2008.

The original music was composed in 1945 by Joseph Kosma (1905-1969), a European Jew who was banned from composition in Nazi-occupied France while under house arrest during World War II. Kosma wrote his first opera at age 11. More on Kosma: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kosma

French lyrics came first for Autumn Leaves. Johnny Mercer wrote the English version later and Edith Piaf performed both for a radio program called "The Big Show" on Christmas Eve of 1950.

In 1955, Roger Williams' piano recording of Autumn Leaves topped the charts. A 1956 film titled Autumn Leaves starred Joan Crawford, with Nat King Cole singing.

2009 COLLABORATION UPDATE:
Dorn Younger and Frank Jacobs worked together succesfully as students during the Men of Note's early days, but they were not close friends. That changed during the reunion concert of 2004, after the two men saw each other for the first time in 40 years. A new friendship resulted in performances of new choral music written by Younger for Jacobs and his wife, Arlene Harlow '66, sung by children's choruses in cathedrals across Europe.

More recently Jacobs commissioned Younger to write a 30-35 minute musical tribute for chorus and orchestra to commemorate, in 2009, the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. While composing Younger said he was "trying musically not to take sides" in remembering those who died on both sides during the Civil War. Lyics for the final of five symphonic songs, "Song of Vision," come from the speeches and writings of Lincoln.

The WORLD PREMIERE of "Lincoln: A Symphonic Tribute" was performed October 24, 2009 by the Summit Choral Society in Akron, OH, with over 300 performers on stage. See excerpt here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Qzjhc5cEq1E
or contact http://www.summitchoralsociety.org/




updated 2-19-2010/jt

(Video by Media and User Services Dept., DePauw University)

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