Description
Song Cycle Notes
Written in 2015, Slabs of the Sunburnt West is a setting of Carl Sandburg’s 1922 poem of the same title. Using mystical, expansive harmonies in the piano, soaring lyricism in the voice, and folk-inspired elements, including quotations of traditional American folk songs and hymns, Slabs evokes the stunning landscape of the American Southwest vividly described in Sandburg’s poetry.
Driving sixteenth-note rhythms dominate “The Overland Passenger Train,” as a rider headed for the Grand Canyon contemplates the fearless “wagon men” of bygone years who braved the beautiful yet uncompromising desert to forge a better life for
themselves and those to come. As if able to cross the distance of time that separates them, the rider sees the past travelers as he looks out of his train window at night and compels the barely visible sandstone surroundings to tell the story of how they were blasted and shaped to make way for train tracks.
In “God of the Canyon,” a rider on a “blunt and blurry jackass” looks out over the ledge of the Grand Canyon. As he sees the stunning landscape of “auburn, gold, and purple” hues unfold before his eyes, he ponders notions of the traditional image of God that was taught to him in his youth, sitting “with long whiskers in the sky.” He wonders how such an image could ever compare to the resplendent God so clearly evident in this glorious panorama. The hymn, “Now thank we all our God,” emerges amidst swirling gestures in the piano.
“Good night” ends the cycle as thoughts of those gone before mingle with the passengers’ dreams. The “train music” heard in the opening song now mixes with quotations of American folks songs like “Home on the Range,” “Oh, my darling Clementine,” and “The Old Chisholm Trail,” as the passenger ponders his connection to the wagon men.
