Legend of the Sleeping Bear

John Alfieri

General Info

Year: 1987
Duration: c. 15:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Self Published Contact johnalfieri53@gmail.com
Cost: Score and Parts - $35.00   |   Score Only - $0.00

Movements

The Fleeing Bears
The Cubs
Dune Ceremony & Finale<br

Instrumentation

Player I:
Player II:
Player III:
Player IV:
Player V:
Player VI:

Program Notes

The Fleeing Bears
A Chippewa Indian legend tells of a mother bear and her two cubs living in Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan. One summer night a storm came upon the forest. The wind blew, the thunder roared, and lightning set the forest ablaze. To escape the flames, the bears swam into Lake Michigan, but soon the cubs tired and fell far behind. The mother bear swam across the lake and reached the shores of Michigan. She climbed to the top of a bluff to watch and wait for her offspring; however, the cubs grew tired and drowned.

The Cubs
As the mother bear lay upon the shore mourning the death of her cubs, the great spirit Manitou (creator of all thing) looked at the faithful cubs and their mother with great sadness. Manitou, in pity of the mother bear, took her to join the cubs. The great spirit then raised the cubs out of the vast blue waters and the became the Manitou Islands.

Dune Ceremony & Finale
In a ceremony performed by the great spirit Manitou, the sleeping bear (the mother's body) was covered with mounds and mounds of sand. After a huge dune was created, the great spirit said, "From this day on, as you rest waiting, all men shall know you as The Sleeping Bear." - John Alfieri

Recent Performances

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Works for Percussion by this Composer

Fanfare for Tambourines - Percussion Sextet
From Darkness Comes Light - Marimba
Improvisation on Agbekor - Percussion Sextet
Legend of the Sleeping Bear - Percussion Sextet
Peregrinations - Multiple Percussion
Reaching - Marimba