When I began this piece, I was thinking about my father and my grandparents and how they left their families and the comfort of familiar surroundings in Italy and immigrated to America for a new life during the early part of the 20th Century. Just as there is an element of danger in taking a trip across the ocean, there is the excitement of the voyage and the promise of a new experience visiting a place you have never been before. The trip itself is an adventure since you will spend several days aboard the ship, and in days that have long since faded from the calendar, these trips took weeks and even months. This piece attempts to capture the spirit of the adventure and excitement of such a trip. The piece starts with the sounding of the horn and the ship embarks. This leads to a beautiful lyrical section and later there is a spritely gigue. Through these various sections I attempted to capture the various moods of the passengers during various stages of this long journey. Click on the YouTube link to hear the complete piece. ASCAP