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Program Notes
To Sacred Summits is a musical representation of the mountains of Colorado. The music aims to capture their unique beauty and power. I am able to see the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park from the window in my studio, so their influence was profound as I composed this piece of music. After all these years of the same view, I find it fascinating how dynamic the landscape can be as wind, light, clouds, snow, and fire alter the scenery.
I often think about what it was like to see these mountains for the first time; an experience that has been shared by millions of people across thousands of years. The short introduction of this piece of music represents the distant giants, seen from miles away or perhaps just being imagined from stories or images. The mystery gives way to an explosion of sound as beams of light crest the peaks, bringing the mountains and sky to life.
This piece is the culmination of musical sketches and ideas across a five-year span. The title is derived from a line in the poem “Mountain Storm” by Katherine Lee Bates, who also wrote about “purple mountain majesties” in a work that was later adapted to the song “America the Beautiful”.
To Sacred Summits serves as a reminder to stop every now and again and marvel at the beauty in our world. We can often forget to appreciate the most wonderful things when they are right in front of us every day.
