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10 Winter 2025 • sai-national.org Cposers discusses the controversy in Protestant churches around opera and morality. "Ultimately, the matter of whether a church should raise and accept money generated by a theatrical production, even one based on a biblical narrative, remained central to this component of the debate." She cites a Lutheran church in Trenton, NJ that confronted this issue in 1900 and decided Bradbury's Esther was "elevating in its character and ennobling in its influence," that the "cantata is being given for a worthy cause, it is entertaining and instructive, it illustrates some of the great truths the disciples of the Bible are supposed to base their lives on, and it should, therefore, be patronized by all who can consistently do so without any compunction of conscience." e performing of Esther encouraged community singing and a positive cultural experience providing "elevating influences and all have benefitted morally and intellectually." While no explicit explanation could be found in Grace Lutheran Church archives for why Dr. Lochner chose this work for his fundraiser concerts, I suspect it was similar to the Lutheran congregation cited by Karpf. Having grown up in Grace Lutheran Church knowing most of the families who participated in the production, and knowing Dr. O.A. Geiseman, the pastor when the 1929 performances took place, and having experienced the excellent liturgical and musical experiences the church provided, I am certain that the congregation thought through these issues and found the performances thrilling, theologically appropriate, and communally joyful. Conclusion While I could not find reason for Dr. Lochner to select Bradbury's Esther, the Beautiful Queen for the fundraiser concerts, a celebration of community was just what was needed at that time in America and the world. e stock market crashed on October 29, 1929, a few weeks before the December performance. My grandfather's father, William, lost his business and beautiful Queen Anne home in Oak Park, IL. A community of Lutherans faced possible financial annihilation and an uncertain future, and Bradbury's Esther provided an opportunity for communal joy. e Finale of the sacred opera would have particularly resonated with the Lutheran audience with a brief "Bach-like" motet and "doxology chorale" sung above the other vocal parts, praising God with words from Psalm 150: "Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord." About the same time my grandfather performed Esther, Bradbury's son wrote a letter about his father to an unknown recipient. He recalled that his father "taught harmonious congregational singing, and at this he was very successful for owing to his wonderful ear for music, he could detect a false note even when hundreds were singing, and would leave the platform, go to the individual and teach him the proper method, this I have seen him do, as sometimes although so young, went with him, being the youngest child and only son." He continued that "a very pathetic scene took place at my father's funeral, as the crowd filed by to have a last look at his well-known features, a blind woman came to the coffin and with tears streaming from her eyes, passed her hand over the features of what remained of the man whom she had loved for so many years, but had never seen" [Elma Marvin, William B. Bradbury: His Life and Times (unpublished manuscript in Bradbury Collection, Library of Congress, Riverside, California, 1969)]. Little did the son know that not long aer he wrote his letter, my grandfather Arthur would be singing his father's music and loving it. He would sing his solo "Ha, ha, ha, ha," as only my grandfather could, with heartfelt joy! Composer and researcher Hollis oms has had a number of articles published in PAN PIPES over the years. He has had 40 articles published in journals and written over 150 musical works: symphonies, operas, chamber music, vocal, and choral music. He has a Masters in composition from Northwestern University and finished the course work for the PhD in composition from the Eastman School of Music. In addition, he has an EdS in educational administration from the University of Toledo and a Masters in liberal studies from St. Johns College, Annapolis. He was a teacher of English and music and a school administrator for over 30 years. He has been the recipient of a Joseph Klingenstein Fellowship to Columbia University, an Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellow, was a Fulbright Exchange Teacher to Scotland, and was selected to participate in the summer principal seminar at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. His musical compositions and research projects are in special collections at the Maryland State Archives, Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Church Music Center at Concordia University-Chicago. View his composer website and booklets available for purchase at: www.hollisthoms.com. QUEEN continued from page 9

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