Update Title: D1FB88B9-45D5-40AE-A26C-0922E8525C11

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Vertical Shrines is a musical impression of three places in the United States: Niagara (river and falls), Devil's Tower in Wyoming and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  The common element among all three places is height.  Niagara is a voyage down the short but turbulent river that connects Lakes Erie and Ontario.  The journey begins peacefully with an unaccompanied clarinet and proceeds with ever-increasing intensity.  The first third of the movement is given to the woodwinds and strings, interrupted by an extended solo violin cadenza.  As the music grows more turgid, brass and percussion punctuate the texture and the rhythms become increasingly complex.  At the climactic point (the falls), motion is suspended momentarily--just as the water at the brink seems poised--as several families of the orchestra fade in and out.  Niagara continues almost in reverse, the fury returns but gradually unwinds at the end.  Devil's Tower , a giant monolith of rock columns, rises abruptly over 800 feet above the northeastern Wyoming prairie.  The constant changing light on the tower and its shadows prompted fascinating Indian legends.  The movement begins in the misty morning before sunrise, played without meter.  A long sustained melody emerges in the cellos, like the sun, as it rises to begin its daily trek over the tower.  The melody continues through the violas and then the violins becoming more intense and higher pitched.  The "shadows" are created by the brass and woodwinds.  At numerous points individual instruments play in an improvisational manner.  After a brief climax, the movement recedes as the setting sun.  National Cathedral is a celebration of life, almost like an American Easter Overture.  The work begins before the Easter dawn with the solemn sounds of the trombone, the instrument traditionally associated with sad news.  An offstage trumpet echoes the solemnity.  Bells break the serious mood followed by a newlycomposed Easter hymn.  From here the piece flows as a monothematic jubilant overture.  The joyous theme is almost always present until the concluding statements, which are given in full orchestral splendor.  --David Ott

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