From the Banks to the Blue Ridge

For those who have not traveled to North Carolina, two of the state's most breathtaking natural features are the Outer Banks and the Blue Ridge Mountains. The piece attempts to express the beauty of these places through styles of music that are rooted in the rich culture and history of North Carolina - Appalachian folk songs, African American work songs, and hymn singing.
The journey begins on the Outer Banks, which are beaches that stretch for miles along the Atlantic coastline. A succession of waves crashes ashore, gaining momentum as each new instrument enters the texture. The succession climaxes in one large wave that propels the music "inland," where we hear the main melodic theme delivered in the solo trumpet. This soulful tune emulates the sounds of an Appalachian fiddler.
After the band delivers this theme, the journey turns to a darker chapter of this region's history. Between the Outer Banks and the Blue Ridge Mountains lies fertile farmland that was once cultivated by African slave labor. The music depicts this labor through a work song, which contains syncopated rhythms, blues scales, and call and response - all elements of music brought to America from Africa. Real chains are used in the percussion to emphasize the great struggle that the work song represents.
As we continue westward, we begin our ascent of the magnificent Blue Ridge with a restatement of the first theme. As the band reaches its summit, the Appalachian tune is heard for the final time along with two familiar hymns, How Firm a Foundation and The Battle Hymn of the Republic, soaring gloriously over the great peaks and valleys of the Blue Ridge Mountains.