Sidney Lanier letter to Dudley Buck, 1876 September 21

Summary

Creator:

Lanier, Sidney, 1842-1881

Date:

1876 September 21

Extent:

1 folder(s)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Sidney Lanier letter to Dudley Buck, ms3726, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

This letter references the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pa. which included a choral cantata entitled "The Centennial Meditation of Columbus, 1776-1876," with music by Dudley Buck and words by Sidney Lanier. In this letter dated September 21, 1876, Lanier tells Buck that he heard the cantata at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia conducted by [Theodore] Thomas with a chorus of four hundred. He gives his opinion of the performance and also mentions his "continual illness" affecting his work.

Biographical / historical:

Sidney Clopton Lanier (1842-1881) was an American poet, musician, novelist and composer was born in Macon, Georgia. He joined the Macon Volunteers, Confederate Army, in the Civil War and was captured in 1864. While in prison in Maryland he developed tuberculosis, which caused him poor health the rest of his life.

Dudley Buck (1839-1909) was an American composer and organist.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Poets, American -- Georgia.

Preferred citation:

Sidney Lanier letter to Dudley Buck, ms3726, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries.