| Category Wind Ensemble |
Date © 2020 by Gary Steele Publishing |
America for Wind Ensemble, in five movements 26:00.The music for this composition draws its inspiration from the art work of life in rural America by Mary Elizabeth Steele. The opening movement “The Winds of War” is based upon the four ink folk drawings portraying conditions of life in the American colonies before the revolution war. The thematic material depicts a young man that embarks on a journey in and through four main events in the history of America. Movement two, “Birth of a Nation” is depicted by the birth of the American eagle. As the journey continues, thematic material in movement three grows with tension in the “Survival of a Nation”. Movement four, the civil war, “A Nation Divided” is the contrasting exchange of two eagles. The healing process begins by honoring the fallen with horn calls and echoing themes. The final movement, “A Nation Endures”, is a lone eagle, with wings spread open, at the ready to fly with the strength of a great nation.