The Mount Gretna Suite

by Fred Opalinski

In the fall of 2001, I met a composer with a Mount Gretna connection in Bratislava, Slovakia, of all places! My daughter Megan and I were attending a concert that was part of an international orchestra festival, and we heard an American couple chatting in front of us. I noticed that they didn’t have printed programs, so I went back to the hall entrance to get two for them. They thanked me, and we struck up a conversation that began a marvelous quarter-century friendship.

The composer was James Cohn, who, with his wife Eileen, was in Bratislava for the recording of two of his symphonies by the Slovak Radio Orchestra. After we all returned home, Jim and Eileen sent me a package of CDs of his music, one of which was titled Mount Gretna Suite. (More about the suite later.) At the time we were living in western Pennsylvania, but we knew a little of Gretna, having been to a concert there years before. In 2003 we moved to Reading, began attending concerts and plays in Gretna more regularly, and in the summer of 2013 bought a cottage in Gretna's Campmeeting. We emailed Jim and Eileen to let them know about the cottage, inviting them to visit, and within an hour received a reply, "How does October sound?" They loved Gretna and returned regularly until Jim’s death in 2021, still composing at the age of 93.

In 1990, Jim had written a piano trio for the Leonardo Trio, who would be premiering it at a concert in Gretna that summer. Jim and Eileen drove to Gretna to hear it and fell in love with the place. Eileen reflects, "This was a hidden treasure. Incredibly beautiful trees, walking trails, old homes and cottages surrounded by flowers. Neither Jim nor I had ever been in such a magnificent setting." The trio was enthusiastically received, and afterward the Cohns and musicians celebrated with “incredible ice cream concoctions” at The Jigger Shop Ice Cream Parlor. Eileen says, "This was a magical place. We knew that we would be returning again someday."

She was right. That November they received a call from Kathy Judd, executive director of Music at Gretna, offering Jim a commission to compose a piece anticipating Gretna's 100th anniversary. She sent a copy of Jack Bitner’s thorough history, hoping to inspire the composition, and the result was a four-movement tone poem, Mount Gretna Suite, lyrically tracing the story of this unique community.

The first movement is 1783 A Wild Garden in the Forest, with birds calling in the trees, a bubbling brook, and stately pines. Governor Dick is chopping wood, a thunderstorm blows through, and then peace prevails.

The second movement, 1883–1893 Development, alludes to industrialist Robert Coleman, his railroad and picnic park. The Pennsylvania National Guard, a carousel, and Campmeeting hymns all enjoy a musical moment.

Movement 3 (1894–1984 Dwelling Places and Changing Times) reprises the birdcalls, adding the Conewago Hotel and ballroom dances, quiet winters, and year-round homes.

The final section, 1991, An Evening Stroll Around Mount Gretna, echoes the opening strains and continues with a vision of tomorrow, closing with a final sunset on the lake and darkness.

Because the suite was going to be paired with Aaron Copeland’s original version of Appalachian Spring in the concert, Jim was asked to orchestrate his piece with the same 13-piece orchestra, and there is a decidedly Copeland “feel” here and there in the Gretna Suite.

To learn more about James Cohn and listen online to the Mount Gretna Suite, visit https://www.jamescohnmusic.info. The Mount Gretna Suite CD, with a number of other James Cohn delights, is also available for $15 at Gretna's Visitor Center. After the summer season, those who are interested in purchasing a copy can email Fred Opalinski at fsopal@gmail.com.

Fred Opalinski retired after 42 years as a Lutheran pastor, serving in the Mercersburg area, Latrobe, and Reading, Pennsylvania. He’s now a licensed Realtor, working in Berks and Lebanon counties. A lover of music, he sings in four Reading choral groups and a year ago began studying the cello. He and his wife, Janet, a retired teacher, live in Reading and have two daughters: Megan, a musical theater actor, and Kristen, manager of ecumenical and inter-faith relations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. They all delight in family member Molly Rey, a 7-year-old Goldendoodle, called by others the “Campmeeting Ambassador.”