More Info on Lee Hoiby's Last Letter Home

Many readers have expressed a great deal of interest in Lee Hoiby's Last Letter Home, a song based on a text by Pfc. Jesse Givens, a soldier in the US Army who perished in Iraq. I would like to express my thanks to Norman Ryan, Vice-President of Composers and Repertoire at Schott Music for sending word that Schott will indeed be publishing the version of Last Letter Home for voice and piano shortly. Norman also mentioned links to recent press releases with more info on the song:

Lee Hoiby's Last Letter Home is the setting to music of a letter by US Army tank crewman, Jesse Givens, who had been in Iraq for just a month when, on May 1, 2003, his tank crashed and fell into a canal off the Euphrates River. The rest of the crew escaped through a hatch, but Givens perished trapped inside the tank. Hoiby's intention was to set Givens' words as clearly as possible, writing it in three-part form for one tenor and two baritone parts. Last Letter Home is also available in versions for solo baritone and piano as well as string quartet and orchestra.

Stay tuned for more info on the publication of the voice and piano version...