Commissioned by the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s death on November 22, 1963, “November Valedictory” quotes the Navy Hymn (“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”) as well as the drum cadence played as Kennedy’s casket was taken down Pennsylvania Avenue to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. Other rhythms are inspired by Kennedy’s full name in Morse code. The work premiered at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle in Washington DC, the site of the President’s Requiem Mass.