WORK INFORMATION
My Home in the Horizon (2002)
for orchestra
Duration: 9 minutes
Scoring
Orchestra
COMMISSIONED BY
the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra
Premiere
the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra, William Wiedrich, music director. Tampa, FL, May 11, 2003.
Publisher
Theodore Presser Company. Available for rental.
Notes
My Home in the Horizon was composed January-August 2002, “inspired,” in part, by Natale T’s poem (see below) and by my daughter, Annamaria, who was 20 months old when I completed the work. She continues to be a constant source of joy, wonder and mystery.
My Home in the Horizon was commissioned by William Wiedrich and the Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra, in association with the Department of Education and Humanities of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Made possible by a grant from The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, in cooperation with the Metropolitan Ministries of Tampa.
My Home in the Horizon
by Natale T.
Do you ever get this feeling
That there’s a better part of you?
Do you ever feel loyal, free?
I do.
I love to run home to the horizon.
Each color representing
The different parts of me.
The hums of the choir in the clouds.
Each a different form,
A different voice.
Each tune is like a golden note
That is too perfect to be special!
Unique things
Like a sky full of dancing clouds
And making a new, abnormal figure
Makes me smile.
Every animal that roams this earth
Has their own history,
Smile, story, like me.
Not caring what will or did happen,
But what is satisfying them now.
Happy through thick and through thin.
And at night, how the sky
Is so clear, lonely, sad
Until his best friends the stars come
And play with him.
Looking at the far, dark sky
Not understanding it,
Just watching it
Thinking
I’m part of such a big thing.
For a moment or longer
Your problems don’t seem so big,
Or at least can’t compare to that.
So if you’re ever sad, feel better,
Join me
In my home in the horizon.
About the poet: Natalie was 11 years old when she wrote this poem. She was residing in the Metropolitan Ministries, a shelter for the homeless in Tampa, with her mother and younger sister. The Tampa Bay Youth Orchestra and the Metropolitan Ministries requested that her poem serve as the initial “inspiration” for this composition.
