"The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"

Such a lovely title, don’t you agree? (Pink Floyd's use of it notwithstanding.)

After finishing the piece six months ago, I appropriated the title from the English author Kenneth Grahame. It is title of the most beautiful chapter in his masterpiece, “The Wind in the Willows.”

Even if you haven’t read it, you probably know that the novel recounts the adventures of Toad, who makes one mistake after but gradually matures into the self-responsible adulthood we all hope our children will achieve.

While the book tells Toad’s story, the content of the chapters alternate between the Toad narrative and the little adventures that the other animals have. These take place close to their home along the river, while Toad is off somewhere in the wide world.

Thus, in the chapter titled “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” the characters Rat, Mole and Otter find themselves on a mysterious island in the river which they don’t recall having visited ever before. And there, at dawn, they are found by the Great God of Nature, Pan himself. It is an experience so overpowering for the creatures that Pan kindly bestows upon them the blessing of forgetfulness. None of them will remember the encounter. Otherwise, having once met the great god and been in his presence, everyday life would never again seem sufficient and their capacity for happiness would be permanently impaired. Wise Pan to have conceived so sweet a thought!

My piece is scored for woodwind quintet and begins, naturally enough, with the “piper” i.e., the flutist, playing a long and seductive solo. It is the very moment of dawn and the forest is otherwise quiet. Gradually, as the forest awakens, the other instruments take up the flute’s strange, modal tune.

You will notice that it all sounds very English, almost like something Vaughan Williams would have written. This is deliberate, given the English origin of the title.

The middle section features a hymn-like tune introduced by the French horn and then varied by the other instruments, with some phrases played in canon. Even in our secular time, when church attendance has plummeted, music that is “hymn-like” still suggests, and instils in listeners, an attitude of reverence.

The piece was performed and recorded at a ‘home concert’ Jo and I held at the beginning of October. The musicians were seated in the Greek Revival pavilion at the center of our garden with friends seated all about, just outside the pavilion. I wish all of you could have been there, though it would have amounted to quite a crowd!

We were blessed with beautiful weather, a quiet, warm October evening. You will hear the crickets chirping in the background, especially later in the recording, and, I’m afraid, a few audience noises in the first minute or so, all part of a live, outdoor performance. At least no trains, or fire trucks with sirens wailing, passed through the village during the performance and no airplanes passing overhead. Nor squawking Canada geese. These are sounds sometimes accost our ears, living where we do. Maybe the Great God Pan was watching out for us!

Immediately after the music ceases, you will hear me saying, “Bravo! Very nice!” We were in the front row and the mike was right in front of us.

The woodwind quintet call themselves “In Vista Winds”

When asked, “How did you choose the name for the group?” bassoonist Wendy Haas explained:

“When it came to selecting a name for our quintet, we looked into all the usual "play on words" types of names, as well as musical terms (Allegro, Vivace, etc.), but these were all already taken by other groups. Another consideration was that, in this day of websites and social media, we felt compelled to try to find unique name that would make for a unique web address.

We also wanted a name that feels fresh and forward looking. So, we came up with “In Vista,” which means “In sight” or “insight” … suggesting that something is coming into view or is being revealed. We all liked the definition and the sound of the name. In our concerts we keep the promise to deliver “insight,” by introducing each piece before we play it, in order to give our listeners some “insight” to the piece and, thus, we live up to our name.”

To hear the In Vista Winds’ performance of this new music, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” click on the link above.

To see a PDF of the score, please click on the link for that.