Traveling Songs —1997

Traveling Songs was commissioned by Eileen Grycky and Christiaan Taggart, and subsequently recorded on the album Matthew Korbanic: 8 String Guitar.

Movements

1. Open Road
2. Scenic Overlook
3. Cruise Control

Program Notes

I wrote Traveling Songs during a semester in which I taught a university seminar on American Popular Songs of the Twentieth Century. Inspired by the richness and beauty of expression in these direct and simple songs, I wrote these three short pieces in the language of contemporary popular music. In keeping with their folk music roots, they are light character pieces: tuneful and modal, motivic and motoric, compact and formally simple.