

Laas in New Haven, CT, Jan. 1918 Laas in New Haven, CT, Jan. 1918

At an estate sale, I came upon a bundle of handwritten scores. Hymns, on inspection -- signed by a Haden Laas. I took them home and learned them. Very little can be found on the author. The basic facts: Born August 22nd, 1899 in Kent, Connecticut; died April 21st, 1918 in France, during the Siege of Seicheprey. In between, the young man sketched hymns. There is no sign that they have been performed.

Each month, for forty-four months, I will release an arrangement of one of his pieces.

"Even I," written c. 1916 and released today, on the centennial of the start of World War I, is the first.



Grant Valdes

New York, NY, July 28th, 2014