Grade 1

Duration: 5:15

This show is a musical telling of the terrible drought and dust storms that devastated the heartland of America in the 1930’s and a tribute to the farm families that endured and persevered.  We open with “The Great Plains”, a bright up-tempo opener with folk themes and Americana sounds.  Next, we endure “Drought”, a slow lament in moor tonality representing the struggle to survive on the farms.  This is followed by “Black Sunday-April 14, 1935”—the day of the infamous black blizzard of blowing dust that struck the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles.  This is fast and dark punctuated with driving percussion interludes.  We move directly into the finale segment, “Recovery”, representing the survival and rebirth of the farm land.  We build to a major tonality fanfare, reprise some earlier themes, and build to a glorious finish!

Repetoire:

All Original Material by Barry Hurt

Mvt. 1. - The Great Plains

Mvt. 2. - Drought

Mvt. 3. - Black Sunday

Mvt. 4. - Recovery

LICENSING:

The material in this show is all original and public domain. All performance and recording licenses are included with this show.