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What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? (2012)

for TTBB choir | 07:00

by Melissa Dunphy | text by Public domain

Album Cover

See also

Cantus (MPR) [2016]
Matthew Curtis (Choral Tracks)

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Other Arrangements

arrangement thumbnailSATB choir

About

Arranged for Chanticleer.

A moving choral setting of excerpts of public testimony given before the Maine Senate by WWII veteran Phillip Spooner in a hearing to discuss the Marriage Equality Bill on April 22, 2009. Nearly 4,000 people attended the hearing, with marriage equality supporters out-numbering the opposition 4 to 1. On November 2, 2009, Maine voters repealed the bill that allowed same-sex couples the right to marry.

Featured on Towleroad, ChoralNet Blog, The Albany Times Union (David Griggs-Janower), Joe. My. God., Good As You, Slacktivist, KCMetropolis (plus additional interview), Instinct Magazine's "Video of the Day" (June 2, 2010).

Press Quotes

"You're also going to want to hear Melissa Dunphy's unique and affecting setting of - of all things - a WWII veteran's testimony on matters of sexual equality given before the Maine State Senate. 'My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that our gay son would be left out,' he told them. 'We raised them all to be hard-working, proud, and loyal Americans and they all did good.' Amen. " [American Record Guide]

"Dunphy's music has hints of an almost Copland-like robustness and makes effective use of imitation in a way that suggests a twenty-first-century composer with a strong sense of counterpoint." [International Record Review]

"Melissa Dunphy’s piece What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? is quite remarkable, not least for the choice of text... Dunphy's music is unsettling and it’s a very individual setting which respects speech rhythms very well. It’s a thought-provoking piece not least for Spooner’s very moving sentiments." [MusicWeb International]

"The most individual work is Melissa Dunphy's What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?; Dunphy shows great ingenuity and individuality in this powerful setting of Philip Spooner's public testimony before the State of Maine Senate discussing the Marriage Equality Bill." [Choir & Organ]

"The final piece on the program was Melissa Dunphy’s stunning 2010 “What Do You Think I Fought for at Omaha Beach?” Excerpts from veteran Philip Spooner’s testimony before the Maine Senate, in a hearing on the Marriage Equality Bill, its music ranges from the Coplandesque to the martial. The touching text and moving music were made powerful by the SLCC’s performance." [St. Louis Post-Dispath]

"A newly commissioned work by Melissa Dunphy followed: “What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?” Dunphy’s music was exceptional, with supple lines effectively depicting the words of a veteran, and acerbic harmonies specifically setting the text 'I’ve seen so much, so much blood and guts.'" [Kansas City Star]

"Simon Carrington gave his reasoning behind selecting Dunphy's work as the winner. "There were plenty of excellent pieces in the sweet-sounding modern idiom which SCCS would make very beautiful, but the strongest (and most individual) piece was Melissa Dunphy's What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach? - a bold and highly effective setting of a thought-provoking text." [KCMETROPOLIS.org]

"A bold and highly effective setting of a thought-provoking text." [Simon Carrington]

"This piece demonstrates to me how a true artist is able to take even a most unlikely source of inspiration and yet create a new work of art from it,” says Barnes. “It is for others to argue the case behind Philip Spooner’s words, but Melissa Dunphy’s music certainly poses the question in a new and telling light." [Philip Barnes]

Lyrics

What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?
Excerpted from public testimony by Phillip Spooner (2009)

Good morning, committee. My name is Phillip Spooner and I live at 5 Graham Street in Biddeford. I am 86 years old and a lifetime Republican and an active VFW chaplain … I was born on a potato farm north of Caribou and Perham, where I was raised to believe that all men are created equal and I've never forgotten that.

I served in the U.S. Army, 1942-1945 … I worked with every outfit over there, including Patton's Third Army. I saw action in all five major battles in Europe … I was in the liberation of Paris.

(I have seen much, so much blood and guts, so much suffering, much sadness, much sacrifice.)

I am here today because of a conversation I had last June when I was voting. A woman … asked me, "Do you believe in equality for gay and lesbian people?" I was pretty surprised to be asked a question like that. It made no sense to me. Finally I asked her, "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?"

For freedom and equality. These are the values that make America a great nation, one worth dying for.

My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that our gay son would be left out. We raised them all to be hard-working, proud, and loyal Americans and they all did good.

—Public testimony given before the Maine Senate by Phillip Spooner in a hearing to discuss the Marriage Equality Bill on April 22, 2009. Nearly 4,000 people attended the hearing, with marriage equality supporters out-numbering the opposition 4 to 1.

On November 2, 2009, Maine voters repealed the bill that allowed same-sex couples the right to marry.

Performances

  • 23 Apr, 2017: Cantus at South Congregational First Baptist Church, New Britain, CT
  • 20 Apr, 2017: Cantus at Longwood Gardens Exhibition Hall, Kennett Square, PA
  • 11 Mar, 2017: Cantus at Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, MN
  • 5 Mar, 2017: Cantus at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, Fort Myers, FL
  • 18 Feb, 2017: Cantus at Northwestern College Chapel, Orange City, IA
  • 17 Feb, 2017: Cantus at John and Alice Butler Hall, Dubuque, IA
  • 15 Feb, 2017: Cantus at Crimi Auditorium in the Institute for Collaboration, Aurora, IL
  • 12 Feb, 2017: Cantus at St. James By-the-sea Episcopal Church, La Jolla, CA
  • 2 Feb, 2017: Cantus at Griffin Concert Hall, Fort Collins, CO
  • 7 Jan, 2017: Cantus at Lakeville Area Arts Center, Lakeville, MN
  • 6 Jan, 2017: Cantus at Grand Theatre, Wausau, WI
  • 23 Nov, 2016: Cantus at St. Bartholomew's Catholic Church, Wayzata, MN
  • 11 Nov, 2016: Cantus at Highland Park Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX
  • 9 Nov, 2016: Cantus at Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
  • 6 Nov, 2016: Cantus at Kean Stage, Union, NJ
  • 5 Nov, 2016: Cantus at Donald W. Nixon Centre for the Arts, Newnan, GA
  • 4 Nov, 2016: Cantus at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer, Atlanta, GA
  • 30 Oct, 2016: Cantus at Chorus of Westerly's Kent Hall, Westerly, RI
  • 22 Oct, 2016: Cantus at Trinity Lutheran Church, Stillwater, MN
  • 21 Oct, 2016: Cantus at Colonial Church, Edina, MN
  • 15 Oct, 2016: Cantus at Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul, MN
  • 13 Oct, 2016: Cantus at Macphail Center for Music, Minneapolis, MN
  • 18 May, 2014: Empire City Men's Chorus at Church of the Holy Trinity, New York, NY
  • 17 May, 2014: Empire City Men's Chorus at Church of the Holy Apostles, New York, NY
  • 16 May, 2014: Empire City Men's Chorus at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, NY
  • 4 Apr, 2012: Chanticleer at Menlo-Atherton High School Pac Theater, Atherton, CA
  • 3 Apr, 2012: Chanticleer at First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA
  • 31 Mar, 2012 - 1 Apr, 2012: Chanticleer at Koret Auditorium, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA

Awards

  • Simon Carrington Chamber Singers Composition Competition 2010