
The Four Freedoms – David Evan Thomas
Composer: David Evan Thomas Text by: Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) Instrumentation: SATB chorus and piano Duration: approx. 4 minutes Date Written: 2012 Commissioned by: Plymouth Congregational Church in celebration of the "Summer of the First Amendment" embroidery. Premiere, July 15, 2012, by Maria Jette, Lisa Drew, Dan Dressen, James Bohn and James Lee Bobb Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Text: This nation has placed its destinyin the hands and heads and heartsof its free men and women;and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere.We look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms: freedom of speech and expression;freedom of every person to worship God in his own way;freedom from want—everywhere in the world.freedom from fear—anywhere in the world. This is no vision of a distant millennium.It is attainable in our own time. Franklin Delano Roosevelt