The first official World’s Fair was held in London in 1851, launching a wave of similar events worldwide. 1876 marked the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and even with the devastation of the Civil War merely a decade in the past, Philadelphians envisioned an exhibition to reassure America that the country could scientifically hold its own with any nation in Europe.
At the time, Philadelphia was the country’s largest manufacturing city—“delirious with invention” as entrepreneurs turned innovation into unprecedented wealth. An international exposition would both celebrate industrialism and show the city as a place that rewarded ideas. More than 300 acres were designated in Fairmount Park and the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine—the Centennial Exposition—opened May 10, 1876. For six months, nearly 10 million visitors experienced the sights, sounds, and tastes of an America transitioning from a 19th-century agrarian economy to the industrial powerhouse it would become in the 20th. A consumer showcase, the Exposition introduced the public to Thomas Alva Edison’s latest Automatic Telegraph System, Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, and such novel treats as popcorn and seltzer.
Combining elements of oratorio and musical theater, the arias, ensembles, and choruses of A Hundred Years On transport the audience to a fairground “so full of goods you don’t know what to look at or where to begin.” Five concurrent storylines bring together the mother of a son killed in the Civil War, a Midwest housewife seeking the right to vote, an immigrant from Poland, a young man curious about new technology, and a Black man working at the Exhibition’s Restaurant of the South. Three movements describe the architectural structures of Machinery Hall, the Women’s Pavilion, and the Torch of Liberty.
A center of 19th-century engineering marvels, Machinery Hall housed awe-inspiring demonstrations of mining, chemistry, book printing, and power generation. Displays included a massive Corliss Centennial Engine and the “Type-Writer,” printing only capital letters and requiring a foot treadle for carriage return. A male chorus illustrates modern hydraulics through driving rhythms, sharply decisive chords, and a text extoling progress.
The Women’s Pavilion, the first in exposition history, presented more than 70 inventions and products patented by women. Spearheaded by Benjamin Franklin’s great-granddaughter, the Pavilion featured a Baxter steam engine operated by pioneer engineer Emma Allison, as well as decorative arts and a visual showing of women’s philanthropic impact. Through the words of Proverbs 31, a chorus of sopranos and altos confirms the role of female ingenuity in a cutting-edge world—“Our works, our achievements, our America, our place.”
Most breathtaking was the Torch of Liberty, a gift from France, in which visitors climbed to the top of the torch of the not-yet-completed Statue of Liberty. Boyer marks this movement “with a sense of wonder,” and stately chordal writing, accompanied by harp, winds, and strings, imparts amazement and reverence.
Librettist Mark Campbell’s text to “The Promise of Promise” resonated most strongly with Boyer, contemplatively sung by the Polish immigrant Marion Jozwiak from atop the Torch. Joining all principal characters and choristers in a statement of solidarity, this movement reaffirms that even though the United States was “a country divided, broken … all in all, it is a good land.”
Both Campbell and Boyer recognize the timeliness of their collaborative work. Boyer writes, “As we look back on America’s 100th birthday at the time of the Centennial Exposition, and perform this work in celebration of its 250th birthday, in the same historic city of Philadelphia, we confront great divisions and challenges. I believe that music can be a vessel for optimism, particularly in times of strife, and it is in that spirit that this score was composed.”
—Nancy Plum