Ghosts of the Grasslands – Steve Heitzeg

If you are interested in a parts set for a performance, please contact us. Composer: Steve Heitzeg Instrumentation: 2-2-2-2/4-0-3-1/timp, perc (3 players), acoustic guitar (amplified)/strings Duration: Approx. 9 minutes Date Written: 2002 Premiered by: Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Giunta, Music Director, Des Moines Civic Auditorium, Des Moines, IA on 10/19/2002 Commissioned: Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Giunta, Music Director Additional Information: Ghosts of the Grasslands portrays the prairie in winter and is a sonic reference to the tragedies of the prairie, including the Native American genocide and ecocide.  With directives such as “low, rumbling, thundering, searching, remote, across open spaces,” the entire piece consists of a chant-like elegy.  The tension between homesteader and indigenous people, as well as the melancholy of the plains and prairie, is evoked through soaring string lines, acoustic guitar and percussion sounds involving gourd rattles, native