Sowash: “Dragon’s Tooth,” for  violin, French horn, cello and piano

Dragon’s Tooth!  That’s the name of a dramatic upthrust of rock, atop a remote mountain ridge in southwestern Virginia.  Its topmost tip offers a 360-degree view, one of very few on the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail.

You don’t casually stroll up there for a look-see.  Dragon’s Tooth is very hard to get to, a long, steep, upward clamber, especially difficult when carrying, as I did, a 45-pound backpack full of gear and food for an eight-day, 80-mile hike.  I made that hike with a group of friends when I was in my mid-thirties, trim and fit.  Even so, it just about did me in.  That 80-mile hike was the most physically challenging thing I’ve done.

Dragon’s Tooth is all about energy.  Energy to get up there.  And the immense energy of the Dragon, asleep under the mountain, his one, huge, ruthless tooth protruding.  When he awakes, Lord help us!

The music I wrote about the place has a lot of energy, too.  It’s the second movement of my Suite for violin, French horn, cello and piano, Four Places on the Appalachian Trail.

It’s one of the oldest myths of Western Civilization:  a dragon guarding a great prize, be it a beautiful princess or a treasure of gems, jewels and gold.  It’s a static situation; the energy is kinetic.  What’s needed is a hero to slay the dragon, fructify with the princess and/or redistribute the hoard.  Sure enough, a hero always arrives, sooner or later.

As with all great myths, it’s happening right now, on levels micro- and macro-, in the most intimate of human relations as well as the most public.

Most likely, you know or have known instances of it.  I have.  I was once the close friend of a beautiful, childless woman whose husband was selfish, sarcastic and neglectful.  Myself, I’m not in the business of rescuing princesses, but it wasn’t long before a suitable hero came along.  He and the princess have been together now for about fifteen years and the relationship has been, so I hear, fruitful and rewarding for both of them.

The Dragon myth speaks to public life as well.  It offers a dark warning to The One Percent.  Your hoarded treasure will be forcibly released, sooner or later.  Your gated communities will not avail you.  The only question is whether your wealth will be redistributed peacefully (by means of taxation) or violently (by means of riots, revolution, the guillotine).  It's the tax or the ax.  One or the other.  Only a matter of time.  Me, I'd advocate the peaceful means, but it’s not up to me to decide!  Who listens to a composer’s thoughts on such matters?  It’s just as well.  I don't want the responsibility.

You’ll hear evocations of the Dragon-Princess/Treasure-Hero myth in this music … the fierce energy of the dragon, the allure of the princess/treasure, the valor of the hero, the inexorability of Fate.

To hear “Dragon’s Tooth,”  beautifully performed by violinist Cheryl Trace, French hornist Robert Garcia, cellist Robert Clemens and pianist Greg Kostraba, click here:
http://www.sowash.com/recordings/mp3/dragons_tooth.mp3

To see a PDF of the score, click here:
http://www.sowash.com/recordings/mp3/dragons_tooth.pdf