Grand Canyon Suite - Grofé

The Grand Canyon Suite was written in 1931 by Ferde Grofé, who was an American composer and the arranger for the famous Paul Whiteman Big Band. This work is made up of five movements, each which musically depicts some aspect of the Grand Canyon. As indicated by the evocative titles, this composition is an excellent example of program music, because it conveys an impression of place through only instrumental music (no vocalists or narrators). 

The movement names are:

I. Sunrise
II. Painted Desert
III. On The Trail
IV. Sunset
V. Cloudburst

In class, we will be viewing the award-winning Walt Disney documentary The Grand Canyon, which is interesting because it contains no spoken words and maintains the complete score as its soundtrack. Additionally, some of you will be going to Cedar Rapids to see a live performance of this by Orchestra Iowa on Sunday, September 7th.

When trying to come up with an idea for a blog post, blog comment, presentation or a project, here are some possible connections and directions to explore:

• U.S. National Park System
• Preservation
• Geology
• Disney 
• Flora and Fauna of the Grand Canyon
• Related Literature, Poetry, Art and Film

Using your natural curiosity and interests, start digging. Here's an example: Has there been much literature or poetry written about the Grand Canyon? (This question lead me here) Which lead me to this link, which lists 34,000 works that reference the Grand Canyon. You can browse the table of contents by subject. I chose #19 Environment - Biology. I selected Biology in Search Engine and spotted an entry:

"A herd of buffalo and cattalo (the latter is a hybrid of the buffalo and the galloway cow), has been brought to Camp Woolley. The company owning them is capitalized at $100,000. Buffalo Jones, former game warden at the Yellowstone National park, is an active member. Beside the buffalo, Persion [sic] sheep have been secured by the company. Deer in herds are to be seen in the pines and quaking asps. A movement is on foot to make the Buckskin mountains of this section a national game preserve."

This raised some questions:

Q: What does a cattalo look like?
A:

Q: Where is Camp Woolley?
(That led me to this site, and this site which seems full of information)

Q: What is a Persion (Persian) Sheep?
"The Blackheaded Persian originated in the arid regions of east Africa in what is now Somalia."

Q: What is a Quaking Asp?
A: "Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America, one of several species referred to by the common name Aspen."

Q: Where are the Buckskin Mountains?
A: North of the Grand Canyon, near the border of Arizona and Utah. 

Q: Are there poems about the Grand Canyon?
A: Many, here's one by John Barton called Sunrise, Grand Canyon

Presentation Idea: What if I were to read this poem over the music of the first movement? 

The example above is just a sample of a possible train of thought. In a way, it is like showing your work in mathematics. You don't have to necessarily detail your entire thought process, but coming up with an idea for a post or a project might involve this type of brainstorming. You will most likely learn a lot of information during the voyage - that is a good thing, and, no, it won't be on the test.