Michael Daugherty, "Route 66" (1998)

“Adventures in American Music –– The Cabrillo Music Festival’s claim to fame is contemporary American orchestra music...”

--Los Angeles Times

Musical ideas come to me when I drive my car down an empty American highway. There is freedom of movement and space to reflect. I meditate on my experiences as a composer of contemporary concert music, a keyboard player in jazz, funk, and rock bands, a percussionist in drum and bugle corps, an improviser on synthesizers for silent film, an organist for county and state fairs, a pianist in cocktail bars. Route 66 is a musical reflection on America, as seen through my rear view mirror. Warning--objects in mirror are closer than they appear. From my perspective, icons are fascinating because they seem close, but are meaningful only by means of temporal and spatial distance. They create emotion because they are always in motion, never in the same place; their meanings shift to create multiple points of view. Icons can be people, places, or things: Elvis Presley, James Cagney, Jackie O, Liberace, Barbie dolls, Motown, pink flamingo lawn ornaments, Route 66. Such icons have personal meanings for me, and a wide range of associations within contemporary American culture. As a composer, I am inspired by these and other icons to imagine exciting new sounds with traditional orchestral instruments. Drawing on a wide range of musical traditions, I bring the excitement and energy of American popular culture to the concert hall. In Route 66 I create an intricate structure that is dramatic and memorable, using a wide palette of timbres, lively rhythms, and contrapuntal complexity. Whether I am playing jazz piano or composing concert music, I like to deviate from the middle of the road. Through an unconventional use of American icons, I open a door to listeners, inviting them to bring their own emotions and associations into the musical experience.