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Ohio
writer and composer, Rick
Sowash, is one of our supporters
to this project to document Grandma Gatewood's life. He graciously allowed
us to use his music in our video
"One Step At A Time" which
featured a piece from his CD,
Music for the Appalachian Trail." Here
is another selection from that CD and his story about this endpoint on the
Appalachian Trail.
"Katahdin" by Rick Sowash Ah, the French horn.
Writing this suite took about as long as a thru-hike would take four months and I fancied, as I was writing it, that I was making the journey. The four places are depicted in the order a thru-hiker would encounter them: Amicalola Falls in GA, where the trail begins, Dragons Tooth in VA, Sages Ravine in CT and finally, the goal from the start, Katahdin. Grand vistas are suggested
often in this music, the big views the hiker comes upon at certain points,
but I also included many quieter, more intimate, delicate passages, to
express those moments when a hiker stops to gaze in wonder at the saffron-colored
lichen on the rocks or a glistening spider's web or a host of ferns, their
fronds dripping buttery dew in the yellow, slanting morning light. Ive seen these things,
up close, but Katahdin I have only viewed from afar. I tried to present
Katahdin simultaneously as a distant ideal and as the rough and rugged
reality it is for the proverbial "ragged rascals" who climb
it. The music is meant to sound steep, rocky and harsh at times. Parts
of it have a weight and solidity, like great boulders. Not boulders tumbling
in an avalanche; I mean boulders just sitting there, active
in their unique, inert way. From stones and poets
you may know,
To hear Katahdin,
from my Four Places on the Appalachian Trail," beautifully
performed by violinist Cheryl Trace, French hornist Robert Garcia, cellist
Robert Clemens and pianist Greg Kostraba, click
here. Rick Sowash For more information about Rick and his music, please visit his website. |
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