On the Highway

Description

The imagery of windows, saints, and organs evoked the idea of a “thin place”: a moment wherein we leave our normal lives, devote ourselves to a journey, encounter a form of heaven on earth, and experience transformation in the process. The piece begins with the pilgrims entering the church before Evensong, with the refracted light of stained-glass windows being represented by the shimmering organ chords. The Lydian harmonies evoke a sense of holiness, of newness, of prayer; and, as the piece unfolds, ostinatos represent the cloud of witnesses repeating the text “and our mouth shall shew forth Thy praise” from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. On the Highway is a celebration of community, music, and those thin places where music offered by friends brings heaven and earth so close that we cannot help but be changed.