November 2001

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AS THANKSGIVING brings family and food together to share common blessings, Giving Thanks brings together the warmth of classical music and memorable words for a thoughtful reflection on the meaning of the holiday.

LIKE YOUR THANKSGIVING FEAST, Giving Thanks combines traditional fare with unexpected delights. For Thanksgiving 2001, we've invited some wonderful guests to the program, including Patrick Stewart, Michael Feldman, W. S. Merwin, Katy Butler, Bill Holm, and Ellen Kushner.

HOST JOHN BIRGE produced his first Thanksgiving Day special 16 years ago as the morning host at WGUC in Cincinnati. The program grew to become an annual tradition, which he brought with him when he came to APMin 1997. Giving Thanks now airs on public radio stations nationwide on Thanksgiving Day. Birge also hosts the daily afternoon drive-time show on APM's classical music network.

Read "Many, Many Thanks" by John Birge

First Hour

Introduction

Traditional (arr. Kremser)
Hymn of Thanksgiving
(We Gather Together)
Boston Pops
John Williams
Philips 454391

Ilmari Hannikainen
Harvest Dance Suite: Prelude
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Petri Sakari
YLE 9703

Haydn
The Seasons: Autumn - Hurray, Hurray, the Wine has Come
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner
Philips 438715
Listen to the show introduction, Hannikainen, and Haydn

Reading:
John Keats
To Autumn
read by Patrick Stewart
Read Keats' "To Autumn"

Anonymous
A New Tune
Palladian Ensemble
Linn 126
Listen to Patrick Stewart & Palladian Ensemble

Various Composers
"Lovefeast of Thanksgiving" (Moravian Music)
Boston Baroque
Martin Pearlman
Telarc 80482
Listen to Lovefeast of Thanksgiving

Traditional
Let us Break Bread Together
Uptown String Quartet
Philips 412631

Reading
Katy Butler
The Great Boomer Bust
read by the author
Read from Katy Butler's "The Great Boomer Bust

Traditional
Simple Gifts
Alison Krause, vocal
Yo-Yo Ma, cello
Sony 89667
Listen to "Let us Break Bread Together," Katy Butler, and Simple Gifts

Reading:
W. S. Merwin
Gift
read by the author
Read W. S. Merwin's "Gift"

Joseph Curiale
The Multiples Of One
ensemble
Black Box 1050
Listen to Merwin and Curiale

Reading:
Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation
read by Dan Olson
Read Lincoln's Proclamation

Traditional
Hymn of Thanksgiving (We Gather Together)
Butch Thompson, piano
Listen to Lincoln Proclamation and Thompson

Second Hour

Greig
Gratitude
Balazs Szokolay, piano
Naxos 550577

Reading
Michael Feldman
Dessert-Errata: A Prayer of Thanksgiving
read by the author
Read Michael Feldman's "Dessert-Errata"

Vaughan Williams
March of the Kitchen Utensils
Bournemouth Sinfonietta
Norman Del Mar
EMI 47812
Listen to Michael Feldman and Vaughan Williams

Haydn
The Seasons: Autumn - Hunting Chorus
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Neville Marriner
Philips 438715

Reading:
Bill Holm
The Island of Pheasants on the West Eighty
read by the author
Read "The Island of Pheasants"

Mozart
Laudate Dominum
Barbara Bonney, soprano
English Concert
Trevor Pinnock
Decca 468818
Listen to Holm and Mozart

Reading
Wendell Berry
The Wild Geese
read by Ellen Kushner
Read "The Wild Geese"

Vladimir Martynov
Come In
Gidon Kremer & Tatjana Grindenko, violins
Kremerata Baltica
Nonesuch 79582
Listen to Kushner & Martynov

Reading: Charles Laughton tells his Chartres Cathedral story, reads from The Dharma Bums, by Jack Kerouac, and Psalm 104
Capitol LP TBO 1650 (out-of-print)

Handel
Dank sei Dir, Herr
Philharmonia Virtuosi
Richard Kapp
CBS LP 38910 (out-of-print)
Listen to Laughton and Handel

National broadcast of Giving Thanks is supported by Faith and Values Media, dedicated to using television and other media to help promote the vitality of religious experience in everyday life. On the Web at www.faithandvalues.com.

Upper Midwest regional broadcast of Giving Thanks is supported by Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, in honor of their students, faculty, staff, alumi, and friends, and in gratitude to God for many blessings received. www.concordiacollege.edu.