Upon the Sky

John Chapman (1774-1854), also known as Johnny Appleseed, was a pioneer of American conservation. He is said to have travelled through large parts of Ontario, Canada, as well as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and West Virginia planting apple trees. Often depicted with barefoot and with a cooking pot on his head, Chapman traversed the midwest spreading goodwill and promoting agriculture. Originally, Chapman was born on September 26th in Leominster, Massachusetts. Johnny Appleseed and I share that birthday and when Robert Bergeron, band director at Leominster (MA) High School reached out to commission a new work, I knew that it had to pay homage to this American folk legend! The title draws its name from a poem by Lebanese-American writer, Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) in which he states that, "trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. " This piece seeks to illustrate the juxtaposition between Gibran's haunting words and Chapman's optimistic work. "Upon the Sky is an energetic fanfare for intermediate-level concert bands. The bold opening statement with its shifting harmonies will keep your ensemble and your audience on the edge of their seats! Paired with the solemnly reflective middle section, this piece expresses the enthusiastic nature of John Chapman's work in American conservationism with the poetic wistfulness of Kahlil Gibran's writings.