Description
Movements
I. The First Sunrise
II. The House on Highview Avenue
III. Voyage on the Eastern Sea
Program Note
To New and Old Places is based on three scenes from children’s and young adult novels that have stuck with me years after I read them. Each scene corresponds to a movement:
I. The First Sunrise (The City of Ember – Jeanne DuPrau)
Having spent their entire lives in the underground city of Ember, Lina and Doon watch, in awe, and for the very first time, as the sun rises over the horizon.
II. The House on Highview Avenue (The Face on the Milk Carton – Caroline B. Cooney)
Kidnapped as a toddler, teenager Janie tracks down her family and watches from a parked car as the brothers she never knew return home from school. She images what life would be like if she had never been taken away from this house and her real family.
III. Voyage on the Eastern Sea (The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader” – C. S. Lewis)
King Caspian and his crew embark on an adventurous journey into lands unknown, as far east as the sea will take them.
In each scene, the characters are astonished or moved by a place or sight that is new to them, but that is not really new. Lina and Doon are mesmerized by the ancient sun, Janie is struck by seeing the family and house she should have known all her life, and Caspian’s crew explores lands new to them but known to the people and creatures that inhabit them, as well as to their creator, Aslan.
Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1, 2
Oboe
Clarinet in B♭ 1, 2, 3
Bass Clarinet in B♭
Bassoon
Alto Saxophone 1, 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet in B♭ 1, 2, 3
Horn in F 1, 2
Trombone 1, 2
Euphonium
Baritone T. C.
Tuba
Percussion 1 (glockenspiel, snare drum, triangle)
Percussion 2 (vibraphone, temple blocks, xylophone, crash cymbals)
Percussion 3 (suspended cymbal, marimba, bass drum)
