There was a decidedly nautical flavor to Friday evening's Lancaster Symphony concert at Fulton Opera House. The symphony's 2008 Composer's Award performance featured Jennifer Higdon's imaginative tone poem "River Sings a Song to Trees," after which we were joined by Lancaster Symphony Chorus for a glorious performance of "A Sea Symphony" by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958).

The concert opened with Clark McSparren presenting Higdon (born 1962) with the 47th annual Composer's Award. "River Sings a Song to Trees" is the stand-alone central movement taken from her "City Scape" (2002) sound picture of Atlanta, where she spent the first 10 years of her life.

Higdon explained the work was inspired by childhood memories of playing in a creek that ran across her front yard and reflected a multitude of colors from sunlight streaming through the trees. We followed her thoughts as the music led us from the gently flowing creek, subtly expressed by a water gong, antique cymbal and beautiful flute solo, to a full-throated orchestral celebration of Atlanta's landscape with rivers, trees and parks.

The audience loved the piece, and it's a shame we weren't given the other two movements of "City Scape" with their images of the skyline and bustle of Atlanta. They are both relatively short and would have added less than 15 minutes to the program.

The second half of the concert was devoted to Vaughan Williams' "A Sea Symphony" (1903-09), which is this year's choral offering from the combined symphony and chorus. It is an interesting and, some might say, courageous choice because it's so rarely performed compared to the past two seasons' better-known selections of Mozart's Requiem and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

Maestro Stephen Gunzenhauser is fully justified in his decision to perform it. "A Sea Symphony" is a great composition, filled with strength and imagery that makes it more like an oratorio with a dramatic text than a symphony with chorus. Vaughan Williams based the piece on "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman (1819-92), a monumental work of poetry celebrating what the author described as the "vehemence of pride and audacity of freedom" in America as it emerged from the "stifling antidemocratic authorities" of its European past. Powerful words for a powerful piece.

Working in different centuries, Whitman spent more than 40 years writing and revising the work; Britten spent six setting a small part of it to music. We were given a mere 60 minutes to enjoy the brilliance of what these two masters created.

"A Sea Symphony" draws on Whitman's constant references to the sea as a metaphor for the journey of life. Add this to an English composer raised with the belief that Britannia rules the waves, and the nautical theme makes sense. The music and words combine for a fascinating philosophical experience. To fully appreciate all that is going on, it's essential that you follow the words of the singers. Fortunately, these are included in the program, and the concert organizers have made sure to allow enough light in the auditorium to let you read them as they're being sung.

From the opening choral proclamation, "Behold, the sea itself, and on its limitless, heaving breast, the ships," we were filled with a sense of the unbounded and restless forces of nature that control our destiny just as they control the vessels of the ocean. The exhilarating scherzo movement, with its "myriad, myriad waves … tending in ceaseless flow … flashing and frolicsome," gave such a sense of being swirled around that I felt if I stood up, I would have had difficulty keeping my balance.

The "Explorers" finale took us on a 26-minute journey of exploration from the Garden of Eden through the wonders of "time and space and death" to a transcendent serenity "after the seas are all crossed … for we are bound, where mariner has not yet dared to go." Pretty weighty stuff.

Gunzenhauser had his work cut out: There were so many people onstage. Just like the auditorium, the stage was packed to capacity with a full orchestra and more than 70 members of the chorus, ably directed by interim chorusmaster Mark Williams. The maestro was clearly in control, and everyone performed well, including the two visiting soloists. Soprano Evelyn Santiago entranced us with her commanding and expressive voice, while the warmth of baritone Philip Lima was richly distinctive, particularly in the second movement, "On the beach at night alone," as he gazes at the stars and reflects upon the nature of the universe.

When the soloists were asked during the open rehearsal whether they got into character for "A Sea Symphony," Lima replied, "We both grew up by the sea, so we have an affinity for the imagery evoked by the text which is so profound that you can't help being moved by it."

And moved by it we were. Wonderful words, wonderful music, wonderful performances. Bravo!

Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will conclude their weekend of concerts with a performance at 7:30 p.m. tonight. For more information, call 397-7425.