86F77E11-375C-45FC-A9A3-1FEE56C5C16E

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ID86F77E11-375C-45FC-A9A3-1FEE56C5C16E
TitlecodeR01347
Title NameKatahdin: Greatest Mountain
Marketing CopyTitle track from the original motion picture "Wilderness & Spirit: A Mountain Called Katahdin"
Instrumentation2+Picc.2+EH.2.2+Cbsn: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(4). CD Playback. 2 Hps: Str.
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Program NotesIn May of 2002 I had the great pleasure of scoring an independently
produced feature length film documentary entitled Wilderness & Spirit: A
Mountain Called Katahdin. The movie was produced and directed by the
well known Maine-based filmmaker James "Huey" Coleman and his
longtime collaborators Abbott Meader and Richard Searles. The film is a
cultural history of Mount Katahdin and Baxter State Park as told by an
amazing cross-section of people for whom the place is an integral part of
their lives.
This concert suite of music from the film is in four linked sections.
Sections 1, 3 and 4 are based on the film's Main Title, Sunrise Music and
Summit/End Title respectively. Section 2 is a 'storm music' sequence
composed especially for this piece. The massed unison French horns and
Trombones and heavy percussion heard at regular intervals throughout
the work were chosen specifically to evoke the vocal range and sonic power
of the singing and drumming of the Keepers of the Penobscot Drum,
whose music is used extensively in the film.
In the Penobscot language the word "Katahdin" literally means 'greatest
mountain'. The piece as a whole is meant to evoke the spirit of the
mountain and the surrounding wilderness without recourse to any specific
program. The four sections of the work may be thought of as four different
'views' of the mountain, four stages of an ascent to the summit, or perhaps
an evocation of four seasons spent in the park. In any case, it is my hope
that the piece stands as the symphonic equivalent of what the Penobscot
peoples call an Honoring Song.
Title Brand2
Year Composed2002
Copyright Number(not set)
Copyright Year(not set)
Duration12
Ensemble Size13
Date Created2008-10-31 20:31:28.000000
Date Updated2025-09-30 20:31:28
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Recording CreditsRecorded by The Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra/ Toshiyuki Shimada, Conductor. Wilderness & Spirit: a Mountain Called Katahdin: Waterbridge Music, ISBN# 0972929428.
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Title Category7
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Title Instrument Category TextFull Orchestra
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Title Sub Category31
Title Instrument Header41
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Clean Urlkatahdin-greatest-mountain-r01347