Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage is a love song, commissioned as a surprise 40th anniversary gift for Judy Maas by her husband John. It is a marriage of two ideas, one of contentment and one of searching. The composers' concept presents the two ideas individually and then intertwines them. As the themes weave together, each undergoes small, nearly imperceptible, adjustments in order to preserve balance and harmony. Much like a marriage, the end result is no longer heard as two themes, but a composite piece of music where each part upholds and strengthens the other. While the infatuation with a true love, upon meeting her, is captured in the work's opening joyous strains, the end of the piece is much like an enduring marriage: elegant, intense, but quietly comfortable -- and in perfect harmony.