Description
The people who settled in North Idaho became known as The Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Coeur d’Alene is a French phrase meaning “heart of an awl”, referring to the local natives reputation for being sharp traders. This piece is designed to convey the spirit of the native peoples by depicting their Native Prayer, starting with plaintiff solos by the Viola, Cello and ending with a rare solo by the double bass player. Dancing was composed using a fugue-like counter-point technique and finally the Change in the Wind which utilizes a melodic theme, added to with harmonic intervals of thirds, conveys the Native people’s predictions of the coming of black-coated peoples and their new spiritual messages. These predictions resulted in the initial friendly reception by local natives to the missionaries depicted in a later section. Arranged for brass quintet, string orchestra, string quintet and full orchestra versions.