Program Note:   

On 25 October 2015, Agincourt, Iowa ("the town that time forgot and geography misplaced") celebrated its 158th birthday with a major museum exhibition at the Rourke Art Museum with a series of public presentations, and other far less formal events. It was also the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, Henry V's decisive victory over the French in the Hundred Years' War, a subject I have treated beforein the large-scale work, commissioned to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Agincourt, Iowa, Agincourt Fanfare, for brass and timpani. It is always an honor and pleasure as a citizen-composer to supply music for important public events. I was particularly intrigued by this project because Agincourt, Iowa—the town for whom I proudly serve as composer-in-residence—does not exist. For the festivities, curator Ronald Ramsay commissioned We Few, a 10-minute scena for voice and piano based on William Shakespeare's great St. Crispian's Day oration (Henry V, IV, 3) in memory of his father, Clifford Ramsay (1917-1980). It received its world premiere at the Rourke Art Museum as part of the closing reception of the exhibition.