- original music and arrangements -
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Fallen Giants

"There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm."
- Theodore Roosevelt
"It is not what we have that will make us a great nation; it is the way in which we use it"
- Theodore Roosevelt

written and recorded - October 2020
© Richard Coffey - All Rights Reserved
Redwoods
Armstrong Redwoods
California
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Fallen Giants1

About the Title
What could be more majestic in nature than huge magnificent trees? Walking or riding through a forest and seeing a huge fallen tree is always a powerful experience. Truth be told, I spend an inordinate time in the woods and encountering these fallen giants happens a lot. Its actually quite enlightening seeing trees fall, decay and crumble. Its nature's way of recycling... once again enriching the soil for the next tree to take its place. (Read ScienceNews for Students)

The tallest known trees in the world of course stand in the redwood forests of the Northern California coast. Ages ago National Geographic had a foldout feature of a giant redwood that so impressed my son he hung it on his bedroom wall. Sadly, even the world famous "tunnel tree" which was estimated to be more than 1,000 years old toppled in 2017 due to a fierce winter storm. To quote George Harrison: "All Things Must Pass".

About the Music
The melody for this tune just came to me one day while sitting on the couch. I whistled it and quickly ran to the studio to write it down. I envisioned it as a trombone feature so I transposed the melody to the powerful mid-range of the trombone (although the B section gets pretty high!). The Coda (a pseudo canon) fades out on antiphonal melodic motifs played by 3 trombones (screenshot (opens in new window/tab).

1 - I first used the phrase Fallen Giants in another Nature Suite tune I wrote called "In the Woods."

Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1858 – 1919) was the 26th President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Making conservation a top priority, he established many new national parks, forests, and monuments intended to preserve the nation's natural resources. He is generally ranked as one of the five best presidents.
Theodore Roosevelt