of high glaciers and icy skies

Commissioned by and dedicated to Andrew Gordon Bell

of high glaciers and icy skies takes inspiration from the wide-open vistas and grand mountains of my home province, Alberta. Much of my childhood and later formative years were spent in this wild crucible, exploring and falling in love with one of, I submit, the most beautiful natural areas in the world. Consciously – and often subconsciously – these sceneries of my childhood have strongly affected my work as a composer. A true joy of the last few years has been investigating and exploring this inspiration – this piece is an attempt to understand and crystallize these (particularly winter) scenes and their lasting impact.

Inclusive in this exploration is the contrast of the towering mountains to the rolling prairies, the warm sun to the swirling blizzard, the frigid winter day to the radiating chinook. Some juxtapositions are sharp and angular, while others barely register, existing as mere shades of colour in the vast and icy sky. More than anything, the piece indulges in the sublime resonance unique to the vibraphone, invoking the almost impossible splendor of the Albertan landscape and sublime inner calm it imposes on those who tread within.