Virginia Scenes

Virginia scenes is a three-movement work depicting scenes one might see, living in or traveled through Virginia. The first movement depicts a visit to one of Virginia's many historic battlefields; one imagines the fierce fighting, the bugle calls echoing in the distance, the echoes of a conflict in which so many gave their lives for freedom and equality for their fellow men & women. The second movement depicts a trip down a river in a kayak, the paddle strokes and the kayak cutting through the water past scenes of wildlife. The serenity is jostled briefly by a trip over some rapids, and punctuated by exhiliration as the denouement takes us to the shoreline. The final movement, simply titled "95" is a sardonic take on something that every Virginian who lives along the I95 corridor is familiar with: traffic. Incessant, chaotic, boring, terrifying, traffic is an inescapable part of daily life. Rather than a short ride in a fast machine, it inevitably ends up being a tedious or terrifying ride in an unremarkable vehicle.