Program Notes

    Catoctin is a celebration of Catoctin Mountain Park that lies on the Appalachian Mountain’s front wall just outside Thurmont, Maryland. I visited the park a number of times while living in Baltimore as a way of escaping the city’s lights and sounds and to reconnect with the ancient voices of the old and wise Appalachians. Chimney Rock overlooks the gentle hills leading back to Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay, and though its height is quite modest the eastward view is commanding and broad. Place’s impact and influence on my thinking and musical work is strong, and as a place Catoctin is rejuvenating through the work of climbing, spiritual in its breadth, and restorative in the elegant flow of its trails and the majestic Cunningham Falls in the park’s interior.

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    Musically the movements of Catoctin fixate on compact, economical gestural ideas that reveal enormous breadth in their elaboration and repetition. “Climbing” uses the regular breathing of an upward hike as a starting point, growing in scope and effort as it nears the summit. “Chimney Rock,” a compact interlude, contemplates our view, tracing the long horizon across a vast expanse of green farmland. “Cunningham Falls” traces the calm, consistent, winding paths of the park’s interior, building to an apex in front of the Falls, then appreciating and reflecting on its majesty.

- September 7 2021