Thomas Jefferson: The Making of America

“Thomas Jefferson: 1776-1826”

an oratorio commissioned by violinist Henry Rubin, theUniversity of Houston and the Brown Foundation, Inc.

Based on texts by and about Thomas Jefferson, this uniqueoratorio style work, for vocal soloists, narrator, actor, orchestra, and soloviolin, will express the private, public and spiritual sides of Mr. Jefferson,and tell the story and evoke the spirit of the USA.

 

 

Program Notes: “We Hold These Truths…”

To the task of composing the American Declaration of Independence, Benjamin

Franklin declined, stating, “I make it a policy never to write documents subject to editing by others.” John Adams was then called upon. Adam’s said, “there are three reasons why I should not accept this honor: first, I am disliked and obnoxious, so the document would lack credibility; second, it should be written by a Virginian; and third, Thomas Jefferson is ten times a better writer than I.

The 33 year old Thomas Jefferson composed the draft in 1776 over a 17 day period. Helping focus and inspire his mind and words during this period, was his violin playing. The object of the Declaration was “not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion,” said Jefferson.

The words of the American Declaration of Independence that modern Americans most embrace, are found in the preamble, “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

“We Hold These Truths….” by Jefferson T. Frazier is written for orchestra, violin solo and tenor solo, and is inspired by the words of Thomas Jefferson. It is the first movement of a series based on the life of Jefferson and was commissioned by the American Festival for the Arts with support from the Brown Foundation, Inc. and Texas Music Festival.

 

Artist: John Trumbull, Oil on canvas, 12′ x 18′, Commissioned 1817; purchased 1819; placed 1826 in the Rotunda. Delivering the Declaration to Congress

Table of Contents

Thomas Jefferson

the making of America

 

I. “We hold these truths…”

Narrator, Actor, Tenor, Violin, Orchestra

 

II. “Time wastes too fast…”

Narrator, Soprano, Tenor, Orchestra

 

III. Head and Heart

Narrator, Violin, Orchestra

 

IV. “Behold me on the vaunted scene of Europe…”

Narrator, Actor

 

V. Jefferson and Liberty (first Innaugural address)

Narrator, Actor, Violin (incorporating traditional folk tune “The Country Courtship” also known as “Jefferson and Liberty,” that was used as Jefferson’s campaign song, as introducation), Orchestra

 

VI. Lewis and Clarke

the corps of discovery

Narrator, Actor, Violin, Soprano, Tenor, Orchestra

i. Jefferson’s instructions to Lewis

ii. The “Frenchman”

iii. Dancing with the Indians (using traditional folk tune “My Love is but a Lassie”)

iv. The buffalo hunt 76 gass and shooting bears 94

v. The great West (pg 97-98 of Gass) and New species

vi. (Speeches to and from) the Mandan Indians

 

VII. Second Innaugural address (or closing speech at end of presidency?)

Narrator, Actor

 

VIII. Head and Heart (declaration material plus violin concerto movement)

Narrator, Actor, Violin, Soprano, Tenor, Orchestra

 

(Monticello/UVA)

 

IX. “The kind invitation…” Final letter, Actor, Orchestra

 

X. July 4, 1826 “Jefferson survives”

Violin (use of traditional folk tune “Life let us Cherish”), Soprano, Tenor, Narrator, Actor, and Orchestra

written for Henry Rubin

 

Thomas Jefferson

and the making of America

I “We Hold These Truths…”

Jefferson’s draft of the declaration of Independence, with edits by Franklin and Adams 

Narrator: To the task of composing the American Declaration of Independence from England, Benjamin Franklin, the internationally respected senior member of the Continental Congress, quickly declined, stating, “I make it a policy never to write documents subject to editing by others.” John Adams, the seasoned and experienced politician, was then called upon. Adam’s said, “there are three reasons why I should not accept this honor: first, I am disliked and obnoxious, so the document would lack credibility; second, it should be written by a Virginian; and third…, Thomas Jefferson is ten times a better writer than I.” The daunting task then came to the 33 year old Thomas Jefferson, who composed the draft in 1776 over a 17 day period in a hotel room in Phillidelphia. Among the activities helping focus and inspire his mind and words during this period, was music… the playing of his violin.

(pause, I – first chord held)

(lights come up on actor)

Actor: (sitting and writing) When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. (pause…stand up and speak without paper) We hold these truths to be self-evident…, that all men are created equal…, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. (pause, picks up paper, still standing) — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (then touches his violin, sits, and he speaks)… among these rights are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…

(music resumes)

II. “Time wastes too fast…”

 

Martha Jefferson

Narrator: Although the writing of the Declaration, and the subsequent crafting of the Virginia statute for Religions freedom, thrust Jefferson into the fore front of political life, he continually sought to convince everyone, including his closest friends, and himself, that his true desire was to spend the rest of his days with his beloved family at Monticello, and to take his place in society as a Virginia Gentelman Farmer.

Thomas met Martha Skelton through music. On one of his afternoon strools, a young Thomas was struck by beautiful singing and harpsichord playing coming through an open window. Having his small, pocket violin ever ready for a serenade, he began to accompany this music with both his violin and voice from outside the window. This first duet between Martha and Thomas was merely the beginning of an intense romance that would develop into true love and loyalty for years to come. They were married on New Year’s Day in 1772 and then set out for Monticello. Reaching Monticello in a snowstorm after dark, the couple toasted their new house with a leftover bottle of wine and, as Thomas recalls, “with song, merriment and laughter.”        

Within the following ten years, Martha and Thomas had six children, though sadly, only two of the children lived, Martha, nicnamed Patsy and Maria, nocknamed Polly,… and only Martha would survive both her parents. The strain of frequent pregnancies eventually weakened his wife so gravely that Thomas curtailed his political activities to stay near her. As a result of Martha Jefferson’s last pregnancy and birth she remained bedridden for four months. Throughout Martha Jefferson’s sickness, Thomas Jefferson never left her side.

Laurence Sterne was one of Thomas and Martha’s favorite popular authors and his book Tristram Shandy, included a poem that they both loved and often shared together. As his wife lay dying in September 1782, unable to speak, struggling, she copied these lines from Tristram Shandy:

(project paper)

Soprano Soloist (speaks): “Time wastes too fast: every letter I trace tells me with what rapidity life follows my pen. The days and hours of it are flying over our heads like clouds of a windy day never to return…”

Narrator: Martha then collapsed, not able to reach the finishing point of the poem. Thomas took up her pen and completed the words on paper:

Tenor Soloist (speaks): “and every time I kiss thy hand to bid adieu, every absence which follows it, are preludes to the eternal separation which we are shortly to make!”

(II – Music starts)

Narrator: Jefferson collapsed at Martha’s death, his sister, Martha Carr, instructed slaves to carry him, half-fainting with grief, to his room. It was three or four weeks before he stepped out of his room. After he finally left his sickbed, he began to roam the grounds of Monticello, sometimes on horseback, but more often on foot, with his 9 year old daughter Martha as his only companion. In these rambles, his daughter recalled, “I was his constant companion, a witness to many a violent outburst of grief.” He burned all of his wife’s letters and papers except one, the poem that they penned together on her deathbed. For the remainder of his life, Jefferson kept this paper close to him, with a lock of his wife’s hair entwined around it.

Jefferson buried his wife in the graveyard at Monticello, and as a part of her epitaph added lines in Greek from Homer’s The Iliad: “Nay if even in the house of Hades the dead forget their dead, yet will I even there be mindful of my dear comrade.”

If the writing of the American Declaration of Independance was the ultimate outward event in Jefferson’s life, one that would change the world of man forever, the death of his wife was the ultimate inward tragedy, that would change the inner world of his heart forever. Thomas Jefferson’s wife rated over and above any other ingredient in his life, and the days, months and years following Martha’s death were spent coming to terms with the past, present and contemplating his future. (III music starts)

III. Head and Heart (musical interlude)

IV. “Behold me on the vaunted scene of Europe”

Narrator: In 1784, a request by Congress that Jefferson represent the United States abroad in France, offered a timely challenge to Jefferson, an opportunity to cut through the fog of grief that preoccupied his mind and days at Monticello, and to revive his interest in, and connection to, affairs of the world. Jefferson, knowing that he was making a decision that would change the course of his life, agreed to serve as Commissioner to France, taking his two daughters with him.

While serving in France, Jefferson’s Enlightenment spirit was renewed, one of romance, culture, passion, intellectualism, and discovery, including a further study and admiration of fine wine and food. In 1786 he composed a remarkable letter to an Englishwoman he met in France named Maria Cosway, which captures his inner struggle for balance between reason and emotion and is set as a fervent, argumentative conversation between two characters, his head and his heart.

Actor: Head, addressing heart: This is not a world to live at random in as you do. To avoid those eternal distresses, to which you are forever exposing us, you must learn to look forward before you take a step which may interest our peace. Everything in this world is a matter of calculation. Advance then with caution, the balance in your hand. Put into one scale the pleasures which any object may offer; but put fairly into the other the pains which are to follow, & see which preponderates. The making an acquaintance is not a matter of indifference. When a new one is proposed to you, view it all round. Consider what advantages it presents, & to what inconveniences it may expose you. Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it. The art of life is the art of avoiding pain: & he is the best pilot who steers clearest of the rocks & shoals with which he is beset. Pleasure is always before us; but misfortune is at our side: while running after that, this arrests us. The most effectual means of being secure against pain is to retire within ourselves, & to suffice for our own happiness. Those, which depend on ourselves, are the only pleasures a wise man will count on: for nothing is ours which another may deprive us of. Hence the inestimable value of intellectual pleasures.

Heart, speaking to Head: …In a life where we are perpetually exposed to want & accident, yours is a wonderful proposition, to insulate ourselves, to retire from all aid, & to wrap ourselves in the mantle of self-sufficiency! For assuredly nobody will care for him who care for nobody. But friendship is precious, not only in the shade but in the sunshine of life; & thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine. …Let the gloomy monk, sequestered from the world, seek unsocial pleasures in the bottom of his cell! Let the sublimated philosopher grasp visionary happiness while pursuing phantoms dressed in the garb of truth! Their supreme wisdom is supreme folly; & they mistake for happiness the mere absence of pain. Had they ever felt the solid pleasure of one generous spasm of the heart, they would exchange for it all the frigid speculations of their lives, which you have been vaunting in such elevated terms. Believe me then my friend, that that is a miserable arithmetic which, could estimate friendship at nothing, or at less than nothing. Respect for you has induced me to enter into this discussion, & to hear principles uttered which I detest & abjure. Respect for myself now obliges me to recall you into the proper limits of your office. When nature assigned us the same habitation, she gave us over it a divided empire. To you she allotted the field of science; to me that of morals… as Morals were too essential to the happiness of man to be risked on the incertain combinations of the head! (smirking a bit) 

Narrator: Though Jefferson greatly enjoyed and appreciated his time in France, serving as a strong representative for the United States, he was not present for the drafting of the US Constitution and much of the activity surrounding its debates. (see/read biography book) Nevertheless, he kept up with the activity through letters from his friend James Madison and intern, let his thoughts be known through return letters. His most important stance was for the clarifying of the interpretation of the Constitution, and safeguarding against too liberal or too loose of an interpretation through the addition of a Bill of Rights, which he did much to shape in conjunction with Madison, and which stands beside the Constitution as a bedrock of Americas present-day political system.

         Finding himself feeling disconnected with the activity in the US, and frustrated that he was not there in person to debate and lobby for his strong beliefs, he was eager to return when his assignment ended, and when called back to America by Washington in ???? to re-enter at the front of the stage of US politics he seized the opportunity, serving first as secretary of state (for the new two party system) under Washington, then Vice president under Adams, and finally President for two terms. Thomas Jefferson had now remarried himself to the world of words and ideas. Ladies and gentleman, the president of the United States of America (chech if they said that then?) (Begin fiddle music of “Jefferson and Liberty”)

IV. “Jefferson and Liberty”

 A work in Progress……