Plant An Apple Tree Poem by gershon hepner

Some people once to Martin Luther turned
and asked: “What would you do, sir, if you learned
the world would end tomorrow? ” to which he
replied: “Good question. Plant an apple tree.

If they would ask me the same question, I
would say: “Here’s what I’d do before I die.
I’d write a poem, which I would address
to God. Perhaps He hardly could care less
about my verses than He does about
the tree of Luther and can do without
them both, but I will challenge Him to find
a poem He can plant inside His mind.

James Newton Howard whose 'Defiance' score competed for an Academy Award has written a 19-minute orchestral piece that will premiere as part of the Pacific Symphony's annual American Composers Festival, beginning Thursday in Costa Mesa. Its inspiration came from a statement by Luther: , as Jon Burlingame reported in the LA Times, February 22,2009:

Howard reflected on the commission recently while seated at a keyboard in his Santa Monica studio. 'This is a soul-cleansing process for me, ' he said, 'to be able to write completely unrestricted, provide my own narrative and work with Carl St.Clair and an orchestra the caliber of Pacific Symphony.' Yet, he added, 'Having no restraints is liberating and terrifying. I can't hide behind a movie - the music will be evaluated on its own merits.' Howard felt he needed a narrative. He remembered a quote from Martin Luther: 'Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.' 'I was struck by the overwhelming positivity of that statement in the face of the possibility of the world ending, ' he said. 'The world is in deep crisis now in so many ways, I wanted it to be about grace in the face of tremendous difficulty. That's what inspired me to begin the piece.'

2/23/09