The Trail of Dreams
In early 1999 Nicholas Goldschmidt of Music Canada 2000 approached me at my home and asked me to compose a suite for a major Canadian Centennial project – The Trail of Dreams. He said that upon reviewing an earlier composition of mine, Canadiana Suite, he decided that I would be the right person for the job. For those of you unfamiliar with this initiative, the trail is exactly that - an environmental trail intended to traverse the entire country, from British Columbia in the west to Newfoundland in the east, and north to the Arctic. It is being built primarily by the various Canadians through whose areas the trail will run. Canadians are encouraged to sponsor and aid the building of the trail, both manually by their human efforts, and also financially by their donations to the construction of it. I became totally intrigued by the whole idea, and after once again consulting with Nicholas, decided to join him in the project.
It was my thought that the initial musical statement of each theme should be made by my quartet, which I envisioned being backed by a string section. So, I commissioned the one man whose work with strings and large orchestras I have admired for many years to take on the task of supplying the orchestral background. From the first moment that I placed a call to Michel Legrand, and heard his energetic and emotional response to the idea, I felt within myself that this was going to be a labor of love and total commitment.
"Oscar," he replied emotionally over the long distance wire to Switzerland, "I love you, I adore you, and you know I would do anything for you. If you need me, I come tomorrow." His response was so emotional that it made even keener the inspirational impulse that I had experienced when Nicholas Goldschmidt first advanced the idea.
From then on I proceeded to compose and put together the Suite. I concentrated primarily on the quartet, confident that the genius of Michel Legrand would make possible a seamless integration of the three elements involved - the composition itself, the orchestral accompaniment, and the quartet's performance.
There is a retreat in Barbados that my family and I have been using for the past years as a respite from the fierce Canadian winters. Suffering as I do from arthritis, I have continually looked forward to our sojourn at The Sandpiper. I made plans with the family to go at this time, knowing full well that the restful atmosphere there would aid my compositional efforts. The Trail of Dreams Suite was completed during this visit to Barbados, and I returned home. After numerous phone calls, e-mails and rehearsals with the quartet, we were ready at last for the live performance of the Suite.
It was to take place at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on April 11, 2000. After only a few rehearsals with the twenty-four person string ensemble, Michel succeeded in generating a sense of congeniality and excitement that warmed and inspired us all. The proof of that, I believe, was provided by the live performance at Roy Thomson, and by the recording that followed the next morning at Manta Studios (since released as a CD on Telarc Records). The members of the ensemble melded beautifully with Michel and the quartet, and rendered a most emotional performance in both instances. I can only say that after having made several albums with a string section, this performance and recording turned out to be the most exhilarating instance for me in this category.
I attempted, musically, to pay tribute to the various areas of Canada represented in the Suite, and each piece, of course, has deep meaning for me. But I feel particularly attached to the selection that I titled Harcourt Nights. It was written for an area in Ontario - Harcourt Park - in which I had a cottage for almost thirty years. The beauty of this experience with nature has never left me, and I feel that I have emotionally poured my whole spirit into this composition.
Michel and I are excitedly anticipating at some point in the future performing the Suite in various parts of the world, and I look on this with great anticipation and love for the talents of my quartet, the string section and the musical genius of Michel Legrand.
In September of 2000 I was invited to attend the official opening of the Trans Canada Trail. There was to be a ceremony held in Hull at which waters that had been couriered from the three oceans (Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic), would be mixed. This occasion was attended by various Canadian luminaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister, the Honorable Herb Gray, the Spiritual Leader of the Aboriginal Peoples, the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, various other Canadian officials and, of course, the runners who brought the various ocean waters for the occasion. The evening commenced with speeches by several of the invited officials, followed by the blending of the waters, along with a proclamation that was recited by all present. The urn containing the waters will reside in the Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. My participation entailed a short description of my composition of the Suite, followed by a very moving performance of one of the selections from it, The Children's Millennium Hymn (renamed by the Canadian government), sung by the Ottawa Children's Choir, conducted by Barbara Clarke. The lyrics for this piece were written by the well-known Canadian poet, P. K. Page, who was also in attendance. The evening was rounded out by performances by various Canadian artists and groups.
It was a fine celebration of Canada. But the next day I learned that it had not been carried by any of the country's networks, and I wondered what that said of the pride in ourselves and our accomplishments that we had been declaring just the night before.
©2000 Oscar Peterson
It was my thought that the initial musical statement of each theme should be made by my quartet, which I envisioned being backed by a string section. So, I commissioned the one man whose work with strings and large orchestras I have admired for many years to take on the task of supplying the orchestral background. From the first moment that I placed a call to Michel Legrand, and heard his energetic and emotional response to the idea, I felt within myself that this was going to be a labor of love and total commitment.
"Oscar," he replied emotionally over the long distance wire to Switzerland, "I love you, I adore you, and you know I would do anything for you. If you need me, I come tomorrow." His response was so emotional that it made even keener the inspirational impulse that I had experienced when Nicholas Goldschmidt first advanced the idea.
From then on I proceeded to compose and put together the Suite. I concentrated primarily on the quartet, confident that the genius of Michel Legrand would make possible a seamless integration of the three elements involved - the composition itself, the orchestral accompaniment, and the quartet's performance.
There is a retreat in Barbados that my family and I have been using for the past years as a respite from the fierce Canadian winters. Suffering as I do from arthritis, I have continually looked forward to our sojourn at The Sandpiper. I made plans with the family to go at this time, knowing full well that the restful atmosphere there would aid my compositional efforts. The Trail of Dreams Suite was completed during this visit to Barbados, and I returned home. After numerous phone calls, e-mails and rehearsals with the quartet, we were ready at last for the live performance of the Suite.
It was to take place at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto on April 11, 2000. After only a few rehearsals with the twenty-four person string ensemble, Michel succeeded in generating a sense of congeniality and excitement that warmed and inspired us all. The proof of that, I believe, was provided by the live performance at Roy Thomson, and by the recording that followed the next morning at Manta Studios (since released as a CD on Telarc Records). The members of the ensemble melded beautifully with Michel and the quartet, and rendered a most emotional performance in both instances. I can only say that after having made several albums with a string section, this performance and recording turned out to be the most exhilarating instance for me in this category.
I attempted, musically, to pay tribute to the various areas of Canada represented in the Suite, and each piece, of course, has deep meaning for me. But I feel particularly attached to the selection that I titled Harcourt Nights. It was written for an area in Ontario - Harcourt Park - in which I had a cottage for almost thirty years. The beauty of this experience with nature has never left me, and I feel that I have emotionally poured my whole spirit into this composition.
Michel and I are excitedly anticipating at some point in the future performing the Suite in various parts of the world, and I look on this with great anticipation and love for the talents of my quartet, the string section and the musical genius of Michel Legrand.
In September of 2000 I was invited to attend the official opening of the Trans Canada Trail. There was to be a ceremony held in Hull at which waters that had been couriered from the three oceans (Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic), would be mixed. This occasion was attended by various Canadian luminaries, including the Deputy Prime Minister, the Honorable Herb Gray, the Spiritual Leader of the Aboriginal Peoples, the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, various other Canadian officials and, of course, the runners who brought the various ocean waters for the occasion. The evening commenced with speeches by several of the invited officials, followed by the blending of the waters, along with a proclamation that was recited by all present. The urn containing the waters will reside in the Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. My participation entailed a short description of my composition of the Suite, followed by a very moving performance of one of the selections from it, The Children's Millennium Hymn (renamed by the Canadian government), sung by the Ottawa Children's Choir, conducted by Barbara Clarke. The lyrics for this piece were written by the well-known Canadian poet, P. K. Page, who was also in attendance. The evening was rounded out by performances by various Canadian artists and groups.
It was a fine celebration of Canada. But the next day I learned that it had not been carried by any of the country's networks, and I wondered what that said of the pride in ourselves and our accomplishments that we had been declaring just the night before.
©2000 Oscar Peterson
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