DEBBIE ELLIOTT, HOST:
For nearly 20 years, a Los Angeles composer has wanted to record an anthem to honor firefighters, but he couldn't raise the money to make it happen. Then wildfires in LA last year brought new attention to the project and the hope that he has a chance to finish it. Karl T. Wright has the story.
KARL T. WRIGHT, BYLINE: When French composer Charles-Henri Avelange came to America in 2005, some of the first people he made friends with were firefighters. Since 9/11, he wanted to write a symphony to honor first responders, and his firefighter friends showed him a poem written on the wall of their fire station that immediately inspired him - the "Fireman's Prayer" by Alvin William "Smokey" Linn. It's read at ceremonies to honor fallen firefighters.
CHARLES-HENRI AVELANGE: Upon reading the words on the wall, I actually sung it to them on the spot, and I asked them, are you sure it's not in music already? Because to me, this is not just a prayer. It's an anthem.
WRIGHT: He wrote a score that used the poem as lyrics.
AVELANGE: (Singing) When I am called to duty, God, wherever flames may rage.
WRIGHT: The score was immense, requiring over 200 musicians, a children's choir, an adult choir, a full orchestra, drums and bagpipes. Hiring the best musicians and renting the best space would cost well over $100,000, and he wanted all proceeds to go to firefighters.
AVELANGE: So how do you get somebody to invest in it, knowing that all that money is going to go in, knowing they'll never see it back?
WRIGHT: So for 19 years, his project languished on a shelf as he looked for funding. Then in January 2025...
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Every single home on the north side of Sunset is gone.
AVELANGE: Los Angeles literally caught on fire.
WRIGHT: Avelange and his wife live blocks from the evacuation zone in Pacific Palisades. They watched firefighters battle the blaze.
AVELANGE: And my wife, actually, Jennifer - she looked at me and she said, well, if this is not a sign, Charles, this thing is needed. It is really time.
WRIGHT: He connected with arts and fire organizations in LA who helped him raise money from public and private donors. The components of each piece had to be recorded separately. So far, they've recorded the LA Children's Choir, the LA Master Chorale and the orchestra. At the recording in July, Avelange thanked orchestra members for participating. Some were survivors of the LA fires. Others came from firefighting families.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
AVELANGE: Some of you, also, I know have been affected by the horrible fires last year. So I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, (crying) thank you so much for being here.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHARLES-HENRI AVELANGE SONG, "THE FIREMAN'S PRAYER")
WRIGHT: Dylan Hart (ph) played French horn on the recording. His father is a former Pasadena fire chief.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FIREMAN'S PRAYER")
LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE: (Singing, inaudible).
DYLAN HART: It was a really, really emotionally connected piece of music for me. And I felt like I could really give everything I had to the music, and I feel honored to be a part of that.
WRIGHT: He says he sent photos and a clip of the recording session to his dad so he could hear it.
HART: He was very excited in a honorable way, in a somber way, too, because he's had to recite it so many times and not necessarily for the best circumstances.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE FIREMAN'S PRAYER")
LOS ANGELES MASTER CHORALE: (Singing, inaudible).
WRIGHT: Firefighter Jeff Hahn (ph) was also emotionally affected by the anthem. He's heard the prayer recited at firefighting ceremonies all over California for almost 25 years. But this rendition was different.
JEFF HAHN: It blew me away. To have the poem sung with that kind of power and expansiveness in that arrangement was just jaw-dropping. It was very moving.
WRIGHT: Hahn will lead the California Professional Firefighters Pipes and Drum Corps when they record their section of the anthem, if they can raise the money for the studio time. For NPR News, I'm Karl T. Wright in Los Angeles.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCUS MUMFORD AND TOM HOWE'S "NIGHTINGALE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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