Instrumentation
First Performance
Aspen Music Festival, American Brass Quintet, 2010
Publisher
Redrunner Music (David Sampson)
Recording
Chesapeake: The Music of David Sampson, American Brass Quintet, Summit Records DCD 639

CHESAPEAKE

David Sampson (2010)

My father loved to sail. Whenever possible, my family would head to the nearest body of water, rent a boat and catch the wind. When we moved to Virginia from South Carolina in 1964, the Chesapeake Bay was that body of water. Years later, when a group of guys from my church in Brookside, NJ decided to organize a sailing trip, I signed up immediately excited about returning to my childhood haunts. Chesapeake is a mosaic of the subsequent three sailing trips from Annapolis to St. Michaels, Maryland sprinkled with a healthy dose of nostalgia. It is strongly programmatic with Movement 1 depicting waking up in Annapolis, preparing the boat, motoring out into the Bay, and setting sail. Movement 2, Full and By, uses a nautical term which in essence means that the sailing was as good as possible with a strong wind and high visibility. Movement 3, Bloody Point, imagines a long-forgotten conflict that occurred on a passing shoreline now occupied by a lighthouse. Movement 4, Crab Claw is an eating establishment in St. Michaels where after a long day of sun and wind, we went to recover with soft shell crabs and a bit too much to drink. Chesapeake was written in 2010 for the American Brass Quintet and is dedicated to my father, Herman Sampson, whose passions were generously shared.

Movements
Total Running Time: 19:30
1. Morning in Annapolis - Setting Sail 6:21
2. Full and By 3:48
Bloody Point 2:43
4. St. Michaels - Crab Claw 3:59