Canyon Sketches

2024 . . . synthesized soundscape (14 minutes)

Three sound sketches explore the timeless qualities of three magnificent canyons: Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Colorado); Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park; and Palo Duro Canyon (Texas). Actually, each sketch began fundamentally based not so much on the canyons as on musical techniques.

2024 . . . chamber orchestra version (12 minutes)

A complex three-part canon of meandering 12-tone lines musically sketches the colorful streaks of pegmatite dikes in the Black Canyon’s cliff walls of Precambrian gneiss.

1. Black Canyon

Downward plunging arpeggios experience relentless musical gravity, sounding out the energetic fall of whitewater over boulders.

2. Glacier Gorge

Gently changing kaleidoscopic sonorities and a slow descending progression of pitch constellations to stillness express the timeless quiet of Palo Duro Canyon.

3. Palo Duro dusk

Score excerpts:

Email the composer to request a PDF of the complete 47-page full score and 14 parts.

tc24@txstate.edu