Program Notes:
Kitseguecla (kit - soo - cla) is one of the many names given to a mountain in northern British Columbia, but is actually the name of a region and Gitxan community near Hazelton, BC. The tallest peak itself is refered to as "the Nipples" or "the Horn," with the adjoining ridge called "Rocky Ridge." Other spellings include "Gitsegulka" which roughly translates from the Gitxan language to "people living beneath the precipice" or Segulka, "sharp-pointed mountain."
The composer had the privilege to explore this mountain on a goat hunt with family and friends while visiting the region. These encounters inspired the majority of the work, either awaiting the return to the mountain, sitting atop its tattered ridges, or recalling the experience weeks later. Although this mountain is not world-renowned, its stands apart, contrasting the more docile snow-capped summits with its rugged, foreboding presence, with few hikers entering the region, and nearly no climbers seeking to scale its most dangerous faces, except the resident goat population. The mountain is strikingly beautiful when fully exposed, but vicious, like a fang protuding from a wild beast's mouth, or it becomes eerily quiet when shrouded in the mists, hiding in its crags and gravel slides unknown dangers and wonder.
Full Score
Kitseguecla (kit - soo - cla) is one of the many names given to a mountain in northern British Columbia, but is actually the name of a region and Gitxan community near Hazelton, BC. The tallest peak itself is refered to as "the Nipples" or "the Horn," with the adjoining ridge called "Rocky Ridge." Other spellings include "Gitsegulka" which roughly translates from the Gitxan language to "people living beneath the precipice" or Segulka, "sharp-pointed mountain."
The composer had the privilege to explore this mountain on a goat hunt with family and friends while visiting the region. These encounters inspired the majority of the work, either awaiting the return to the mountain, sitting atop its tattered ridges, or recalling the experience weeks later. Although this mountain is not world-renowned, its stands apart, contrasting the more docile snow-capped summits with its rugged, foreboding presence, with few hikers entering the region, and nearly no climbers seeking to scale its most dangerous faces, except the resident goat population. The mountain is strikingly beautiful when fully exposed, but vicious, like a fang protuding from a wild beast's mouth, or it becomes eerily quiet when shrouded in the mists, hiding in its crags and gravel slides unknown dangers and wonder.
Full Score