Horseshoe Curve

Horseshoe Curve was composed for the Altoona Area High School Orchestra Kelly Detwiller director. This composition is in three movements. The first movement "Man Versus Nature" is moderate and intense paying tribute to the designers and laborers for the Horseshoe Curve project. It uses parts of three railroad songs "Drill Ye Tarriers" by Thomas Casey "I've Been Working on the Railroad" and "Dinah". The second movement "Doorway to the West" is a celebration of the completion of the project. It uses "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" in fragments in canon and as a basis for a "hoe down" and a "waltz" variation. The third movement "Growth and Opportunity" is slow and expansive in the beginning with a quicker section at the end. It depicts the growth of Altoona as a result of Horseshoe Curve. The initial idea that appears in the celli is expanded and developed therefore evolving into a constant stream of new but related ideas.