Scott Michal
The Prairie
Duration: 16'
Solos:
piano
The Prairie
Sample pages
Work introduction
The Prairie is based on impressions of the family homestead in Michell County Kansas. The movements are played without pause. The first movement "Dawn", tries to capture the endless expanse that even though at first glance everything looks the same, the closer you look, the more you realize that within the endless repetition is constant change and spectacular beauty. and, occasional storms! The second movement, "Dust" is full of swirling dust demons and the horror of the great dust bowl of the 1930's. Finally, the homestead where my Grandmother and mother were born is named "Sunflower". The old stone house built in the 1880's served as the community post office. My Grandmother, Bertha Cooke Tice went to college in the early 1900's to study music and piano, and then traveled from homestead to homestead to teach piano lessons in a horse and buggy! The sonata is dedicated to her memory.