Cecilia McDowall - Crossing the Bridge

This three movement work is a string orchestra arrangement of a piece originally scored for flute orchestra. The title comes from a Haiku by the poet Alan Spence: Crossing the bridge - the other side is lost in mist. The structure of the work is itself like that of a bridge. The short middle movement, London Bridge, spans the divide by taking the last phrase of Mostar as its opening, exploring the darker tones of the lower instruments, and the first bar of Brooklyn Bridge as its close. In this movement the old English song, London bridge is falling down, is playfully decorated and shared between the parts. London Bridge, which had spanned the River Thames, England, was transported to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, in 1967. The opening movement, Mostar, refers to the old single arch stone bridge in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which became such a symbol of peace and hope in the late 1990s. In the outer sections of this movement the flutes explore the characteristic fall at the end of the phrase which is quite a feature of some middle European music. The central section is lively and has a whirling, folk-dance feel to it. At the time Brooklyn Bridge was built (1883) it was one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. It connects Manhattan with Brooklyn across the East River, always busy with traffic, and has a powerful presence on the New York skyline. The third movement of Crossing the Bridge is one of perpetual motion, opening with a bright, staccato texture, and is in the shape of a palindrome or arch. Restless and energetic it drives the work to an upbeat conclusion.