To Them of the Last Wagon
This is a new work (Opus 71) completed Tue 06 June 2023.
It is an orchestral "Tone Poem" to illustrate a talk given in General Conference on 05 Oct 1947 by J. Reuben Clark, who was then serving as First Counselor in the First Presidency.
It is scored for full orchestra plus an SATB choir.
Most of the choir's lines are 'vocalized' - that is, they sing "Aah..." to the notes. At the end, they sing words from the chorus of Hymns #44, "Beautiful Zion, Built Above".
Brother Clark's talk narrates the journey made by one of the last wagons in one of the wagon trains that traveled to the Salt Lake Valley. This particular wagon is last in the line because it is poorly made, the wife of the family is with child, and the young boy of the family ("Bill") is weak.
Their wagon bravely faces the long journey, although, being last, dust usually obscures the view far ahead. Still, they struggle onward.
The wife gives birth to a new soul during their journey. (Brother Clark says that his own mother was one such newborn in a wagon on the journey west.)
Shortly thereafter, little "Bill" sickens and dies, and they leave his tiny grave behind as they continue on their journey.
The journey goes on and on, for hours... days... weeks... months...
Finally, they reach the Salt Lake Valley, and the choir exults that they have reached "Zion, beautiful Zion, city of our God!"
Files (MP3 and PDF) are listed below.