the view from here
For this work, I collaborated with my close friend, former neighbor, and wonderful poet F. Daniel Rzicznek, who teaches in the English department at Bowling Green State University. After telling him about the project, I asked if he would write a poem that I could respond to in some way, and "Compass" was the result.
Compass
A point in the meadow—a point off in the blue woods.
Another under the pond’s cape of slate, and a fourth
where the sun scraped pine-tops after dawn.
The moving points in the hooves and feet of animals,
points of garbage cans ringing the properties, points
of trailheads marking elongated, walkable points,
points in the drones and swells of the not-far road.
The three bucks found dead together, spiny antlers
locked in a creek, the scattered points gathered there.
The points between these points—the points further
still between, and down and down and down and down
to the point at which all the points touch—subtle,
Emerson called it, the self the little red needle dizzied
in their midst. The flying hawk nearly hit by a pick-up—
the point at which I imagined hooding it with my coat,
walking home with it trembling beneath my arms.
The mailman delivering the wrong mail, another point—
and the point where the wireless conks out.
Points prearranged as squirrel, as fence, as shoes, as dog,
night betraying its motive in the widening shadows,
Earth rolling by unnoticed, the points that cannot be guessed
as they draw an expression across a sleeping face.
The images within "Compass" immediately called to mind Shenandoah National Park, a park special to me and one not far from my home in Richmond, Virginia. Each of the three movements in "the view from here" bears a title that comes from a line of Dan's poem and also contains a subtitle connecting it to a place within Shenandoah.
The first movement, "drones and swells of the not-far road," is a meditation on the park's most prominent feature: Skyline Drive, a scenic highway winding its way through the entire park. "a point off in the blue woods," the second movement, was inspired by Big Meadows (a large, open space in the heart of the park) and features bells and distant, fragmented quotes of folk song. The third movement "moving points in the hooves and feet of animals" is subtitled "Hawksbill" for the trail leading to the highest summit of the park, which offers incredible vistas and many opportunities for encountering wildlife.
Christopher Chandler
Christopher Chandler is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music who currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Richmond, teaching composition and music technology. He is the co-founder and executive director of the [Switch~ Ensemble] and the director of the Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival.
www.christopherchandlermusic.com 
