172 - The Lowland Sea (1963)

Libretto by Arnold Sundgaard, Music by Alec WilderWritten in 1952Performed May 16 & 17, 1963 in Dolton, Illinois at the Thornridge High School Spring MusicaleChorus and Orchestra under the direction of John PearceBetty Smith as Dorie Davis, Paul Maddux as Johhny Dee"The Lowland Sea was written as a remembering of the sea and sea songs - of dunes, of harbors, of voyaging, of loneliness, of waiting. It is hoped that it will seem familiar to anyone who has walked (or wanted to walk) the streets of Nantucket, or has waited for the evening mail boat at Ocracoke. Some of it was suggested by drawings and prints of ships like the Witch of the Waves out of Salem. Part of it comes from a nursery song, Bobby Shaftoe, which has been given a new musical setting for this occasion. The words for The Cuckoo are very old, but the music is new."Happy Birthday Alec Wilder, who should have been 107 years old today!