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I Had Rather
for mixed chorus
Premiere
26 October 2004
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Presidential Singers
Instrumentation
SATB
Duration
5'
Text
President George Washington

Program Note
Composed during the winter of 2004 in New York City at the invitation of Judith Clurman for inclusion on a program of rounds by various contemporary American composers on 26 October 2004 at the Library of Congress, the words to this piece are by that most Cincinnatus-like of American presidents, George Washington: "I had rather be on my own farm, than be emperor of the world."
--- Daron Hagen, 2004