Program Notes by Dr. K. Dawn Grapes
Date of composition: 2023
Duration: 5 minutes
Las Vistas Doradas (Golden Views), was commissioned by the Denver Young Artists Orchestra and premiered by the ensemble at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles in 2023 with the Fort Collins Symphony’s very own Wes Kenney on the podium.
Composer Vince Oliver (b. 1978), whose talents extend to percussion performance, sound design, and musical direction, wrote the piece as an homage to the music of Aaron Copland. He describes the composition as “an abashed celebration of traditional Americana sounds in both orchestral and film music.”
The composer’s note in the score suggests: “The 19th Century played many stories of westward expansion—Commonly with hope of discovering precious metals in the new and unexplored land. Listening closely, we can still hear the spirits of the past. Singing their songs. Playing their familiar tunes. And in the after, celebrating the certainty that the true gold they found exists within the natural beauty that continues to surround them.”
© Dr. K. Dawn Grapes, 2023
