All The West Was Moving (work II)
Daniel W. McCarthy
About this work:
This piece is a transcription from the bassoon and string quartet piece of the same name for piano quartet.
In the last years of the twentieth century, it seems fitting to compose a piece in memory of such a turbulent time. Although the industrial, medical, technological, and social changes that have taken place seem too numerous to mention, world War II stands as a most significant event of our time. The outcome of that war defined for us the kind of world in which we would live. All The West Was Moving is a tribute to those who fought, endured at home, or died in World War II. It is hard in these times to imagine facing a world in which the annihilation of an entire race of people was possible, a world in which the destruction of our country and the essence of Western civilization was possible--a world that could have been quite different from the one in which we are blessed to live. The mass destruction that Japan endured may have been the recipe for other countries as well. Such events may be studied or discussed, but to have lived through them is to the generations afterward, unimaginable.
Hardship had fashioned the World War II generation into a people who grew up quickly and recognized the importance of personal honor and commitment. This piece is a tribute to those who saved the West during the bleakest hours of humankind. It is a tribute in hopes that history will preserve the understanding of what kind of people saved this nation and the full immeasurable price they paid.
Version: Piano Quartet
Year composed: 2000
Duration: 00:12:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Piano Quartet or Quintet
Instrumentation: 1 Piano, 3 Strings (General), 1 Violin, 1 Viola, 1 Cello
Instrumentation notes: Available form: Dorn Publications, P.O. Box 206, Medfield, MA 02052
dornpub.com/ChamberMusic.html, PH: (508) 359-1015
FX: (508) 359-7988, e-mail: dornpub@dornpub.com