16. Continental divide (an American cantata of 8 numbers for chorus, S & Bar solos, & 9 instruments)
Whole cantata in one document:
Conductor's score: PDF
Vocal parts (chorus & solos): PDF (with piano-reduction of accompaniments)
Flute parts: PDF
Oboe parts: PDF
Horn parts: PDF
Timpani (kettle drum) parts: PDF
Violin I parts: PDF
Violin II parts: PDF
Cello parts: PDF
Double-bass parts: PDF
Piano parts (#6 & #7 only): PDF
Or, obtain as separate songs:
| SONG | SCORE | VOCAL | PARTS | PREVIEW | PREVIEW | SOURCE | SOURCE |
| 1. Timberline | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 2. Yellowstone | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 3. Vision quest | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 4. Osborne Russell | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 5. South Pass | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 6. Isabella Bird | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 7. Silverton | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML | |||
| 8. Logan Pass | MP3 | MIDI | Sibelius | MusicXML |
Musicians: SATB chorus; soprano & baritone soloists; flute; oboe; horn in F; timpani (II, III, IV); violin I & II; cello; double-bass; and piano.
Length: 6:12 + 4:10 + 7:36 + 6:20 + 6:00 + 8:12 + 4:11 + 7:43 = ~51 minutes.
PROGRAM NOTES & TEXTS:
This first number is celebratory and could be subtitled, “Awakening of cheerful feelings on arrival in the countryside.” But, rather than sonata form, it has a loose Mahlerian structure where one main melody is developed while 3 others vie for expression. A certain Romantic instability of key symbolizes enthusiasm that escapes Classical restraint. A final repetition of the initial section makes this structurally a da-capo aria for chorus.
Timberline!
Far, lone, and high.
Timberline!
Ancient and wild.
At timberline the forest falls away.
The grey rock rises to a rugged crest.
This is the heart and center of it all;
the tundra where rivers all begin.
At last you are alone with hawk and bear.
All the clouds are so close!
And always racing by from west to east
like mighty ships that wreck upon the rocks.
Sometimes you cannot help but duck your head.
The wind is clear and cold as wintertide.
To breathe it is like drinking mountain streams.
It pushes and it pulls you off the trail;
it leaves you for a while in silent space;
then, roaring on the ridetops, it returns.
The sun is so strong!
It browns the stumps that smell of toasted pitch.
It bakes the sage upon the flats, and yet
in shadows lies the cold of outer space
where snow can last until it's late July.
Timberline!
Far, lone, and high.
Timberline!
Ancient and wild.
========================
The other 7 numbers of the cantata progress in historical order, from Pleistocene times before humans arrived, through the Arapaho era, the fur trade, pioneer days, arrival of the first tourist, the gold/silver rush, and the modern age of national parks and interstate highways. The central numbers (#3~6) have texts from oral tradition or contemporary accounts; the framing numbers at the start (#1~2) and end (#7~8) incorporate my own attempts at poetry.
2. Yellowstone
The strong mantle plume that created Yellowstone has a few peers in the world: Iceland, Afar, and Hawaii. But here alone the volcanic plateau was built on the back of the older Rocky Mountain chain, producing lodgepole forests and parklands at 8,000’ elevations and peaks that go much higher. This number depicts a summer dawn along one of the verdant high-altitude river valleys (e.g., Lamar River, or Yellowstone River above the falls) where bison and elk are grazing, until interrupted by wolves. The text is a set of 6 haiku-like nature poems, with 5/7/5-syllable structure but no rhyme.
Rich meadow of grass
on the crest of the mountains.
A river winds through.
Dawn lighting the trees.
From the white-mantled hot springs
steam rises and swirls.
The animals rouse
from their sleep and start grazing;
brown rocks come to life.
Wolf slinking alone.
Then more gray shadows follow.
The buffalo stir.
Elk swirl and retreat.
As the herd parts around him,
one bull slowly stands.
The herds move upstream.
By the waterfall, watching,
a silver bear waits.
3. Vision quest
The adults of the village sing a traditional Arapaho Eagle Song, with its proud refrain, “My father gave me the song of the eagle.” (I did not alter this in any way, except to add some very light instrumental accompaniment.) A young man drifts off to follow the calls of a distant eagle. He is inspired to climb the Neniisotoyou’u mountains in search of his own animal mentor. He is rebuffed by a bear, and then by a cougar, but high on the mountain shoulder he feels the presence and inspiration of Thunderbird. I based his new song on the text of Thunderbird Song by Chief Yellow Calf: “[Thunder]bird walks about; the sky is turning yellow.” (That is: Soon he will fly; prepare for thunder.) Sung in the Arapaho language.
Eagle Song (traditional Arapaho):
Oo huu Neisono beeniinei ni Niieihii hiiniiboot.
My father gave me the song of the eagle.
questing [bridge] (Peter Bird):
Nii'eiheii: betééneen. Hohou.
Eagle: You sing sacred songs. Thank you.
Neniisotoyou'i: heetyihoonoo.
Two Guides: I will come.
Woxuun: Nonoohobé3en. Cihniibooni.
Bear: I see you. Sing to me!
Bexóókee: Nonoohobé3en. Cihniibooni.
Cougar: I see you. Sing to me!
Box'oonii'ehii'noot / Thunderbird Song (Chief Yellow Calf):
Nii'ehii noo'useet niihooninoo'oo' hono'.
Bird walks about; the sky is turning yellow.
4. Osborne Russell
Osborne Russell (1814-1892) was a largely self-taught man from Maine who entered the trapper’s life and the Rocky Mountain fur trade at the age of 20. (Later he was a miner, a farmer, a trader, and was elected judge and then triumvir in the provisional government of Oregon Territory.) He recorded his experiences in Journal of a Trapper… which was published posthumously. This solo aria takes its text from the book’s valedictory poem, The Hunter’s Farewell, which may be the only extant poem by anyone involved in this chapter of our history. His description of the impact of firearms on the flocks of the mountains and the herds of the plains is sensitive and moving.
Oft have I climbed these rough, stupendous rocks
in search of food 'mong Nature's well-fed herds,
until I've gained the rugged mountain top
where Boreas reigned, or feathered monarch soared.
On some rude crag projecting from the ground
I've sat a while my wearied limbs to rest
and scanned the unsuspecting flock around,
with anxious care selecting out the best.
The prize obtained; with slow and heavy step
packed down the steep and narrow winding path
to some smooth vale where crystal streamlets met,
and skillful hands prepared a rich repast.
Then hunters' jokes and merry-humoured sport
beguiled the time; enlivened every face.
The hours flew fast and seemed like moments short,
'til twinkling planets told of midnight's pace.
But now these scenes of cheerful mirth are done.
The horned herds are dwindling very fast.
The numerous trails, so deep by bison worn,
now teem with weeds, or overgrown with grass.
A few gaunt wolves now scattered o'er the place
where herds, since times unknown to man, have fed,
with lonely howls and sluggish onward pace
tell their sad fate, and where their bones are laid.
Ye rugged mounts; ye vales; ye streams and trees:
To you a hunter bids his last farewell.
I'm bound for shores of distant western seas,
To view far-famed Multnomah's fertile vale.
I'll leave these regions-- once-famed hunting grounds,
Which I perhaps again shall see no more,
And follow down, led by the setting sun,
Or distant sound of proud Columbia's roar.
5. South Pass
The Sweetwater River route through South Pass is more lonely and barren than scenic, but topography dictated that here the California Trail, the Oregon Trail, and the Mormon Trail necessarily ran together for several days travel as they approached the Divide. I have merged 3 songs of the trail (each in its own meter and its own key) to represent the passage of these 3 distinct kinds of pioneers in the same year. Ho! for California represents the gold-miners; both text (Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., 1813-1853) and tune (Nathan Barker, fl. 1849) are authentic, although reharmonized here. The Oregon-Trail text and tune are my own inventions. The text of the LDS hymn Come, Come Ye Saints/All is Well was written by William Clayton (1814-1879) while traveling the trail in 1846; here, I have given it a new tune that better harmonizes with the others. Despite the cultural and musical contrasts, there is no actual dissonance; perhaps I may even suggest that a new kind of polymodal harmony emerges?
Ho! for California (Jesse Hutchinson, Jr., 1813-1853):
We've formed our band, and we're all well-manned
To journey afar to the promised land
Where the golden ore is rich in store,
On the banks of the Sacramento shore.
Then, Ho! Boys ho! To California go.
There's plenty of gold in the world, we're told
On the banks of the Sacramento.
Heigh ho! And away we go,
Digging up the gold on the Francisco.
Heigh ho! And away we go,
Digging up the gold on the Francisco.
O! The land we'll save for the bold and brave;
Determined there ne'er shall breathe a slave.
Let foes recoil, for the sons of toil
Shall make California God's Free Soil.
Oregon (Peter Bird):
O, long we wave; at last we go, along the running river.
To a better land with hope and plenty to deliver.
Oregon: Far the fields and valleys run.
Oregon, Oregon: hope of your wand'ring son.
Come, Come Ye Saints/All is Well (William Clayton, 1814-1879):
Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear,
But with joy wend your way.
'Though hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
'Tis better far for us to strive,
Our useless cares from us to drive,
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell;
All is well! All is well!
We'll find the place which God for us prepared,
Far away in the West,
Where none shall come to hurt or make afraid;
There the Saints will be blessed.
We'll make the air with music ring,
Shout praises to our God and King;
Above the rest these words we'll tell—
All is well! All is well!
6. Isabella Bird
Isabella Bird (1831-1904) was a very independent Englishwoman who toured the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado Rockies in 1873: arriving by train, renting a horse, and finding her own way through mountains and plains, come blizzard or sun. Her account, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, is well worth reading. This solo number uses a montage of her words to describe her ascent of Longs Peak, which was guided by the colorful and mysterious “Mountain Jim” Nugent. She may have been the first woman of European ancestry to make the ascent. It is certain that later she was the first woman inducted into the Royal Geographical Society, in London in 1892.
It is a splendid life for health and enjoyment. All my luggage being in a pack, my conveyance being a horse, we can go anywhere we can get food and shelter.
There were wonderful ascents then, through which I led my horse. Wild, fantastic views opening continually. A recurrence of surprises. The air keener and purer with each mile, and the sensation of loneliness more extreme.
This upland valley of grass and flowers, of glades and sloping lawns, and cherry-fringed beds of dry streams, and clumps of pines artistically placed; and mountainsides densely pine-clad; the pines breaking into fringes, as they come down on the park. And mountains breaking into pinnacles of cold gray rock, as they pierce the blue sky! Heaven-piercing, blue in its pearly luster, the splintered, pinnacled, lonely, ghastly, imposing summit of Longs Peak.
It was exciting to lie there, with no better shelter than a bower of pines, on a mountain eleven thousand feet high, in the very heart of the Rocky Range. Under twelve degrees of frost, hearing sounds of wolves, and arrowy pines for bedposts, and for a night-light: the red flames of the campfire.
It was something, at last to stand upon the storm-rent crown of this lonely sentinel of the Rocky Range, and see the waters start for both oceans. Uplifted above all love and hate and storms of passion, calm amidst the eternal silences. Fanned by zephyrs and bathed in living blue. Peace rested for one bright day upon the peak.
The snow began at eight this morning, very fine and hard. It blows in through the chinks and dusts this letter as I write. Mr. Kavan keeps my ink-bottle close to the fire, and hands it to me, every time I need to dip my pen.
A drive of several hours brought us to Greely.
And a few hours later, in the pale blue distance, the Rocky Mountains and all that they enclose went down below the prairie sea.
7. Silverton
Saturday night in a mining town! This turbulent setting with its many conflicting personalities, subplots, and emotions is represented by the overlaying of up to 6 tunes at once. Traditional tunes An Outlandish Knight and Shenandoah represent the women’s point of view, and several new tunes (in the “gaslight” style of the times) represent the men’s. An opera-buffa version of the sextet from Lucia transported into La fanciula del West.
[men:]
Oh, it's Saturday in Silverton, so boil up the fire!
I'm gonna take a bath, and I'm gonna wash my shirt.
If someone jumps in front of me, he might get hurt!
It's Saturday, so Devil take the hindmost!
[women:]
The sleepy week is o'er, and it's time to go to work;
to corset, paint, and shine;
to treat the galloots like businessmen,
and drink tea, pretending it's wine.
[men:]
I'm gonna find my Lilly; we will put on some airs.
If she treats me sweet, I will take her upstairs.
If she throws me out again, I can sleep in a chair.
It's Saturday, so Devil take the hindmost!
[women:]
This is not what I came for;
this is not as I dreamed.
There's a house somewhere with two easy chairs,
where a husband waits for me.
[men:]
Oh, it's high times in the Rockies!
Doesn't matter what lingo you speak.
If you dig, and you drink, and you'll rise to a wink,
give our silver valley a peek!
[women:]
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to see you.
Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you.
Away, I'm bound away,
'cross the wide Missouri.
[all:]
When the church gets built, we will all go to pray;
There'll be weddings and baptisms every single day;
There'll be gold nuggets dug from this old mortal clay!
[men:]
But, it's Saturday, so Devil take the hindmost!
8. Logan Pass
Approaching Glacier National Park from the East, today’s tourists can drive directly from the lonely and pristine rolling prairie of the Blackfeet lands to some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. Chief Mountain, St. Mary Lake, Logan Pass, and the Garden Wall will not be forgotten by anyone who has made this trip, and of course the automobile makes it possible for most. But, travel by car is much too fast for the spirit.
The prairie is a grass-green sea
that beats against the mountain shore.
Ten million years of grinding, and
it wins another mile or more.
The aspen creeks are rills of foam
that drain the rubble from the core.
Alone and strong one peak outlasts the rest:
Chief Mountain is the lighthouse of the West.
Saint Mary Lake, a flooded aisle
between cathedral mountain walls
inscribed by glacial thundering
of ice in cataracts and falls,
is silent now; the power gone
that echoed in these stony halls.
Far Reynolds Mountain is an empty throne.
One island like a sword is set in stone.
The banner trees are spruce and fir;
the tundra spreads around the trail.
By Bearhat Mountain, Hidden Lake
is veiled in mist and sudden hail.
The elk return to forest edge;
the marmot hides beneath a ledge.
Great Reynolds throws a plume of cloud in train,
and then all vanishes in swirling rain.
The Divide is a knife-edge, a place you cannot stay.
The best you'll do is balance one fine summer day.
The Divide is a wave-crest, a place you'll never stay.
The road that takes you up there will soon carry you away.
Beyond the pass, the Garden Wall
with paintbrush flowers and columbine
feeds goat and ram; the grizzly bear
roots glacier lilies in the park,
until a late September frost
turns tamarck to yellow gold.
Bird Woman Falls let down a final tear,
and ice and cold reclaim another year.
The Divide is a knife-edge, a place you cannot stay.
The best you'll do is balance one fine summer day.
The Divide is a wave-crest, a place you'll never stay.
The road that takes you up there will soon carry you away.
Away. Away. Away...
![[Loveland Pass, CO]](songImages/1A.jpg)
1. Timberline
Loveland Pass, Colorado
Peter Bird, 2012
![[Loveland Pass, CO]](songImages/1B.jpg)
1. Timberline
Loveland Pass, Colorado
Peter Bird, 2012
![[Mount Blue Sky, CO]](songImages/1C.jpg)
1. Timberline
Mount Blue Sky, Colorado
Peter Bird, 2012
![[Grand Canyon, Yellowstone River]](songImages/2A.jpg)
2. Yellowstone
Grand Canyon of the Yellowsone River, Wyoming
Peter Bird, 2022
![[Yellowstone Lake]](songImages/2B.jpg)
2. Yellowstone
dawn by Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming
Peter Bird, 2022
![[buck elk, WY]](songImages/2C.jpg)
2. Yellowstone
buck elk
Yellowstone_buck_Aug_2000_by_Don_Ramey_Logan.jpg,
Wikimedia Commons, Don Ramey Logan, CC-BY-SA 4.0
![[Cheyenne buffalo thunderdrum]](songImages/3A.jpg)
3. Vision quest
Cheyenne buffalo thunderdrum
Okologix, 2015, Wikimedia Commons
![[bald eagle flying]](songImages/3B.jpg)
3. Vision quest
bald eagle, Wyoming
David R. Tribble, 2016, Wikimedia Commons
![[fur trapper]](songImages/4A.jpg)
4. Osborne Russell
fur trapper Samuel Hamer Jr. (model) by Cyrus Dallin (sculptor)
Ben P L, 2018, Wikimedia Commons
![[Absaroka Range, WY]](songImages/4C.jpg)
4. Osborne Russell
Middle Creek Canyon, Absaroka range, Wyoming
James St. John, 2023, Wikimedia Commons
![[Oregon Trail wagon]](songImages/5B.jpg)
5. South Pass
wagon on the Oregon National Historic Trail
Bureau of Land Management, 2010, public domain
![[handcart pioneer statue]](songImages/5C.jpg)
5. South Pass
handcart pioneer statue, Mormon Trail Ctr., NB
Chris Light, 2016, Wikimedia Commons
![[sunset on Sweetwater River]](songImages/5D.jpg)
5. South Pass
sunset over Sweetwater River and Granite Mountains, Wyoming
Peter Bird, 1982
![[Isabella Bird & horse]](songImages/6B.jpg)
6. Isabella Bird
author, A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, 1879
public domain
![[Estes Park, CO]](songImages/6C.jpg)
6. Isabella Bird
Estes Park & Longs Peak, Albert Bierstadt, ~1876
public domain
![[Silverton Railroad]](songImages/7B.jpg)
7. Silverton
Silverton Railroad Co., 1908
Wikimedia Commons
![[Grand Imperial Hotel]](songImages/7C.jpg)
7. Silverton
Grand Imperial Hotel
William E. Barrett, 1933?, Wikimedia Commons
![[church & parsonage]](songImages/7D.jpg)
7. Silverton
church & parsonage, Silverton
William E. Barrett, 1933?, Wikimedia Commons
![[Chief Mt., MT]](songImages/8A.jpg)
8. Logan Pass
Chief Mountain, Montana
Astronautilus, 2002, Wikimedia Commons
![[St. Mary Lake, MT]](songImages/8B.jpg)
8. Logan Pass
St. Mary Lake, Montana
Ken Thomas, 2006, public domain
![[Logan Pass, MT]](songImages/8C.jpg)
8. Logan Pass
Reynolds Mountain above Logan Pass
Glacier NPS, 2006, public domain
![[view from Logan Pass, MT]](songImages/8D.jpg)
8. Logan Pass
Bearhat Mountain & Hidden Lake, from Logan Pass
Glacier NPS, public domain
