1-4 The Highway

Duration: 2:54

Keys: A minor

Subcollection: guitar pieces

Story sound clip: car drive-by

Main theme(s): descending third in the piano throughout, scale motive at 2:03

Story

In the story, Hernando is at peace in his simple life as the troubles of the world, literally, fly past him. To capture this idea in music, I took two simple chords (G/A and Am) and play them in such a way as to communicate contentment, as if saying "I am happy with these two chords, I do not need to incorporate the excess or the materialism or the violence of the rest of the world." These chords fade into the distance at the end of the piece, corresponding with Hernando's life which goes on at the end of the story as he continues to plow.

At 0:42 you can hear all the cars driving by on the left, heading north as the world war rages.

Music

The musical partner to this piece is "The Fox and the Forest" because they are both set in Mexico and they are both about avoiding something like a world war. The chords from the party scene at the beginning of "The Fox and the Forest" are the same as these chords that form the core of "The Highway." Also, these two pieces are the only ones in which I sing.

Tidbits

• One of two pieces that was completely re-recorded (the other being "The Visitor"), this one because of disk corruption on the first version. (Luckily, this is the shortest piece on the album.)

My Favorite Moments

• The guitar strums going stereo at 1:37.

• The slide guitar with the oo's at 1:50.

• The lead guitar harmonies beginning at 1:58.