'This is a world premiere piece': UNC choirs to sing poems of wartime

The UNC Chamber Singers and Carolina Choir will be premiering a newly composed choral piece by Kenneth Frazelle set to the wartime poems and diaries of Paul Green in their upcoming concert, “Music of Peace, War & Remembrance," on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The first half of the concert will be sung by the 20-voice UNC Chamber Singers. The second half will feature Kenneth Frazelle's piece called “Songs of War” and will be sung by the 65-voice Carolina Choir.

Paul Green was an American playwright and poet who wrote historical dramas detailing life in North Carolina in the early 1900s. He was born in Harnett County, North Carolina, attended UNC and lived in Chapel Hill for the rest of his life.

According to a press release from the publisher, Frazelle has had a lifelong admiration for Green’s work, beginning when he met the poet at North Carolina’s School of the Arts in high school, and shares a personal connection with him.

"'Songs of War' explores excerpts from World War I diaries and poems written by Paul Green from 1917 to 1919,"  Frazelle said of his composition. "The themes are sadly relevant today: of horror, loss, displaced mothers and children and the longing for home. It was a difficult piece to write, but empowering to bring Green’s profound words to life — a hundred years later."

The work is 28 minutes long and has five movements, featuring music and lyrics that speak to Green’s personal experience serving in the military during World War I.

“The text and music are hauntingly beautiful, and the piece ends in a kind of homage to Chapel Hill,” said UNC professor and choir conductor Susan Klebanow.

Klebanow said she was asked personally to premiere the piece with Carolina Choir.

“One of Paul Green’s daughters, Betsy Green Moyer, is an old friend from Boston — we sang in a choir together many years ago," Klebanow said. "She and her siblings commissioned this piece along with the Paul Green Foundation to commemorate the end of World War I."

Junior Josh Massey, a tenor in Carolina Choir and member of the Choir Council, said he’s excited about the performance.

“This is a world premiere piece, which is something I’ve never done before," Massey said.

Massey said its one of the first pieces he has done in the Carolina Choir that's in English — the choir has previously performed in Russian and French. 

"To have a piece in English, and to have a piece about something as relatable as the first World War, is really nice, because I think the audience can connect with it in ways that they might not have been able to connect with other pieces we’ve done in the past," Massey said.

Massey said he thinks this concert is well-timed following Veteran's Day and believes it will have the audience reflect on a bittersweet shared history, with the sacrifice of war accented by moments of peace throughout the composition.

“The last movement is called ‘Letters from Home’ and we sing a lot about Paul Green wanting to go back to North Carolina to the apple blossoms blooming in the springtime and other beautiful things in nature," Massey said. "To have that experience from a native son of North Carolina is really interesting to think about and reflect upon."

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