It's A Republic (if You Can Keep It)
It's A Republic (if You Can Keep It)
Kyle Pederson (2025)
Voicing: SATB
Accompaniment: piano and drum
Text: Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Roosevelt (adapted by Kyle Pederson)
The texts chosen include the following:
Abraham Lincoln: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. We here highly resolve…that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
(excerpted from the Gettysburg Address)
Theodore Roosevelt: "Let the watchwords of all our people be the old familiar watchwords of honesty, decency, fair-dealing, and commonsense."
“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders...cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children’s children. Do not let selfishness or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
Benjamin Franklin: "A republic, if you can keep it." (Though the specifics remain up for debate, scholars generally agree Franklin responded with this famous line when asked after the Constitutional Convention, "Well doctor, what have we got?")
All three of these iconic US statesmen believed that our country and its people, at their best, represented values of freedom, equality, honesty, and decency. They believed that citizens of this new nation could join together in common cause, and safeguard our particular form of democratic government (a constitutional republic). This piece, integrating the words of these three visionaries, reminds us of this common cause, and invites us to re-dedicate ourselves to the best our country has always represented.
COMPOSER NOTE:
This piece was commissioned in loving memory of Ben Franke, and dedicated to Megan and Ben’s two sons, Abe and Teddy. Ben was a history buff, and it seemed fitting to center this piece around the words of some of our country’s greatest statesmen: Benjamin Franklin (honoring Ben), Abraham Lincoln (honoring Abe), and Theodore Roosevelt (honoring Teddy).
Commissioned by Las Vegas Academy of Arts
