The ''Death Valley Suite'' is a short symphonic

suite Suite may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition ** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach ** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó ** ''Suite' ...

written by

Ferde Grofé Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé, known as Ferde Grofé (March 27, 1892 April 3, 1972) (pronounced FUR-dee GROW-fay) was an American composer, arranger, pianist and instrumentalist. He is best known for his 1931 five-movement tone poem, '' Grand ...

in 1949, depicting the westward travels of pioneers through the 'harsh lands' of

Death Valley Death Valley is a desert valley in Eastern California, in the northern Mojave Desert, bordering the Great Basin Desert. During summer, it is the hottest place on Earth. Death Valley's Badwater Basin is the point of lowest elevation in North Am ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. Grofe was commissioned by the Death Valley 49ers, a non profit organization devoted to preserving the pioneering and mining history of the Death Valley region (consisting of Death Valley National Park and surrounding area). The composition and music was part of a pageant celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 49ers who came by way of Death Valley in search of gold and other riches and celebration of the California state centennial (1850-1950). The original performance was conducted by Grofe with the Hollywood Bowl Symphony on December 3, 1949 in the Desolation Canyon area of Death Valley National Monument (now

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eure ...

). The music was used in the background as a procession of covered wagons entered the area. Actor James Stewart narrated the pageant celebration. The 1949 pageant was attended by 65,000 people. The movements are titled: *I.

Funeral Mountains The Funeral Mountains are a short, arid mountain range in the United States along the California-Nevada border approximately 100 mi (160 km) west of Las Vegas. The mountains are considered a subrange of the Amargosa Range that form the ...

– a strange atonal movement in 5/4 time *II. '49er Emigrant Train – features colorful musical depictions of an Indian attack and a wagon train *III. Desert Water Hole – a medley mixing

Oh! Susannah "Oh! Susanna" is a minstrel song by Stephen Foster (1826–1864), first published in 1848. It is among the most popular American songs ever written. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time ...

and the main theme of the piece. *IV. Sand Storm – another atonal movement featuring a wind machine with a final coda recapitulating the main dramatic theme. The total length is 17 minutes and 11 seconds.

References

External links

Ferde Grofé was commissioned by the California State Centennial Commission and the Death Valley '49ers to write the suite for the 1949 California Centennial Pageant. Background on history, pageant pictures, and pageant advertising can be seen at the following links:
''Death Valley Suite: Desert Water Hole''
– Ferde Grofe's Desert Water Hole composition for orchestra, his biography, and background on the Death Valley 49ers Pageant of 1949

(

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required) – The 1949 Pageant Guide and its conception {{Authority control Suites by Ferde Grofé Compositions for symphony orchestra 1952 compositions Death Valley Orchestral suites