Cathedral Grove

This piece was inspired by a visit to Muir Woods, a redwood forest north of San Francisco. One particular grove of the forest has been dubbed the “Cathedral Grove” for its towering beauty; the grove reminded me of a passage from John Steinbeck's Travels With Charley: In Search of America: “The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.” With this piece I endeavor to depict these trees in a sound painting. —D.G

Winner of the 2019 UC Davis Symphony Orchestra Composition Competition. Premiered 1 June 2019, Christian Baldini, conductor.