for string quartet (2 Vln, Vla, Vc)
"Going-to-the-Sun" was inspired by a visit to Glaicer National Park in August 2016, which was during the 100th anniversary of the National Park System in the United States. The
road which winds through the center of the park is called "Going-to-the-Sun Road" and winds its way from lake filled valleys, around sheer cliffs, and finally over the continental
divide through Logan Pass near the base of several receding glaciers. The park itself is an incredibly diverse collection of flora, fauna, and geological features, but also the geographical significance as the "Crown of the Continent" is always in the background.
When composing this string quartet, I divided the park into three elements and forces:
Rising Ridges (rock, tectonic movement opposing gravity, traveling upward slowly)
Vanishing Glaciers (ice, melting and sublimation, static but losing ground to heat and gravity)
Rushing Falls (water, erosion, fluid dynamics and free fall)
