Tom Purdom, the instigator of the theme for this program in a comment made to Suzanne some eleven years ago, enjoyed the program very much and wrote a review in the Broad Street Review. Some tidbits to entice you to follow the link above to read the entire review (and while you are at it, don’t miss the comment by Kile Smith below the review):
The composers all managed to handle the problems created by my idle thought. They all chose interesting letters — a good start all by itself — and they created music that added to the impact of the text or enhanced it some other way.
No review of a Lyric Fest concert should omit Laura Ward’s work at the piano. … With Ward’s accompaniments added to the royal work contributed by the four vocalists, the composers should have felt their missives received the best premieres a hardworking creative personality could ask for.