PLAY Voices from Chaco, for Piano and Woodwind Quintet, II. Tombeau

Voices from Chaco: Concertino for Piano and Woodwind Quintet, mvt II.
Tombeau.  Michael Mauldin, piano; Lynne Anderson,
flute; Rhonda Blech, oboe; Bonnie Mauldin, clarinet; Joel Scott, French
horn; Martha Beauchamp, bassoon, from the CD, "Enchantment: Music by
Michael Mauldin."

The piece won the 1980 Composer-of-the-Year Competition of the Music
Teachers National Association, USA.  Dedicated to the memory of pianist
Paul Muench, the work was written to provide pianists of high-school or
college age with a solo having an instrumental accompaniment of chamber
proportions.

Centuries before Europeans came to North America, the Chacoans
created beautiful cities, accurate solar/lunar markers, intricate
artwork, straight roads, and a far-flung trade network.  "Voices from
Chaco" marked the beginning of my fascination with these remarkable
people.  By "time-traveling" a thousand years to a civilization that
seemed "at one" with the cosmos, I found a way to be positive in my
work.  There was also the tragic tone of a great people who dispersed,
perhaps because of their overuse of the land (and maybe of their own
powers).  Though we may never be certain of the reasons for Chaco's
abandonment, I sensed that the place held vaulable lessons for us.