Echoes of Normandy ...

On June 15, 1994, before a packed house consisting of representatives of the American Symphony Orchestra League, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Andrew Litton gave the world premiere of this new work for tenor, organ, tape and orchestra. The audience responded with a long ovation for all concerned. The work was commissioned by the orchestra to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day. It is a setting of three poems interspersed with the taped voices of President Franklin D. Roosevelt as well as soldiers and correspondents who were there on June 6, 1944.

Wrote John Ardoin in the Dallas Morning News, "The idea made dramatic sense and there was much in the score that was alive and that created a strong atmosphere of remembrance." Commented Wayne Lee Gay in the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph, "Lees' handling of the orchestra was, as usual, masterful, and his creation of rhythmic impetus impressive."

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