Standing In a Cloud (A View From Pike’s Peak)
Instrumentation:
String Orchestra
Harp
Solo Cello
Solo Violin
Standing in a Cloud is my first orchestral work, and it depicts the 9-mile journey from Manitou Springs, CO, through the Rocky Mountains and up to Pike’s Peak.
Built in 1891, the Broadmoor Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway is the highest cog railway in the world. Its passengers get an exclusive view of the Pike National Forest, a region of protected land that cannot otherwise be accessed by foot. The valleys, waterfalls, reservoirs and old mining campsites nestled within the eastern Rockies are a stunning view of undisturbed natural beauty.
At the summit, there is a 360-degree scenic overlook across the valley, and you can see all the way to Denver on a clear day. It is so high that the summit is immersed in any cloud cover over the mountains - hence the title of this work. Between the scenery and the lack of oxygen, Pike’s Peak will literally take your breath away.
The shimmering texture of the high strings and harp represents the thin, brisk, foggy air of the high altitude, and the clicking of the cogs as the train climbs up the mountain can be heard in the staccato string lines under the cello melody. As the summit is reached in the middle section, you can hear fragments of America the Beautiful - which Katharine Lee Bates was inspired to write by this very mountain in 1893.
This work was commissioned by Sheila Felder for the DeKalb High School Symphony Orchestra, and premiered on May 2, 2024.