| More Music Videos: iloveprofhowdy.com +++ Patriotic!!! The Grand Canyon Suite is a suite for orchestra by Ferde Grofé, composed during the period from 1929 to 1931. It consists of 5 parts or movements, each an evocation in tone of a particular scene typical of the Grand Canyon. Paul Whiteman and his orchestra introduced the first public performance of the work, initially titled "Five Pictures of the Grand Canyon", in concert at the Studebaker Theater in Chicago on November 22, 1931. Composer Eric Ewazen has a composition called "Grand Canyon Octet" which is occasionally incorrectly referred to as The Grand Canyon Suite. The five movements of Grand Canyon Suite are entitled "Sunrise", "Painted Desert", "On the Trail", "Sunset" and "Cloudburst". * Sunrise opens with a representation of the moment of dawn in the canyon. The feeling of peace is present, a sense of still air, of a place owned by nature. Gradually we hear the sun mount the sky until the joyous proclamations of the full orchestra announce the arrival of another splendid and radiant day. Two main musical themes are presented the first, announced by the piccolo, opens with a four-note motive (BC#-G#-B) which will reappear later in the work in different guises; the second theme appears in the strings. After the trill by the piccolo, the descending notes that follow reflect the call of the canyon wren, a widespread but not frequently seen songbird common in the canyon country and desert southwest. * The Painted ... |
