Original Performance Audio Recordings, bulk: 1957

Recordings of both rehearsals and performances of the oratorio are included in this series. Follow links in the Box 5 recordings list to listen to Oratorio performances. A recording of a February, 1957 rehearsal of the Berea College Oratorio choir with Thor Johnson is included here on a cassette listening copy. The recording provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of oratorio preparations, and demonstrates Johnson’s rapport with the choir members.

Part I of the oratorio was performed in concerts on Feb. 1 and 2, 1957 in Cincinnati, Ohio, by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Berea College Oratorio Choir, and guest soloists, with Johnson conducting. A recording made from those performances was broadcast by CBS Radio on Feb. 17, 1957. This series contains a cassette listening copy of that broadcast.

The premiere of the entire oratorio occurred on May 15, 1957, at Union Church in Berea, by the Berea College Oratorio Choir, guest soloists, and members of the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, with Rolf Hovey conducting. Listening copies of that performance are included here in both cassette and compact disc formats. A recording of the May 15, 1957 rehearsal in preparation for that performance also is included here in a cassette listening copy,

The original recordings of these rehearsals and performances, on reel-to-reel tape, are contained in this collection, but are not available for public use.