American composer John Wineglass dedicates this world-premiere work “to all those who love this national treasure (Yosemite National Park) and work to preserve the Earth.” The piece is composed in three movements but performed without pause. Each movement bears an evocative title, and Wineglass includes subtitles within the movements as well. The piece is part of an illustrious tradition of American and European composers vividly representing the marvels of nature through music.
Wineglass provided detailed program notes, quoted below:
“Yosemite is my musical homage to one of the most breathtaking landscapes I have ever encountered. In this work, I set out to translate the awe, the sacred quiet, and the overwhelming grandeur of Yosemite National Park into a series of orchestral impressions — moments that unfold as light shifts across granite or as mist drifts through the valley at dawn.
“The opening movement, Midnight Twilight, begins with the softest whisper of sound. I wanted to capture the mysterious stillness of Yosemite at night — the kind of silence in which the outlines of cliffs and trees dissolve into shadow. Fragmented motifs flicker like starlight, while glissandi and hushed tremolos evoke the sensation of breathing in cool, moonlit air.
“As the atmosphere begins to glow within this first movement, Lilting Morning Dew Meadows emerges almost imperceptibly. I imagined the first rays of sun warming the grasses, igniting color across the meadows, and gently stirring the wildlife awake. The music rocks lightly, as if the entire landscape is stretching into the morning. Still at the heart of this movement, A Reverent Mosaic — Glacier Point flows into Majestic Valleys of El Capitan, inspired by one of Yosemite’s most astonishing vistas. Standing there, I felt a profound sense of timelessness gazing upon rock formations created thousands of years ago. Through layered rhythms and broad, open harmonies, I sought to express both the immensity of the cliffs and the deep humility they inspire. Energy builds as the music moves into rhythmic drive and bold gestures that reflect the monumental presence of El Capitan itself — a mass of stone that feels both immovable and alive. This section carries a sense of unstoppable force, mirroring the valley’s dramatic verticality,
“The first movement concludes with an homage to Half Dome, a mountain whose unmistakable profile has always filled me with wonder. I shaped the music to rise with determination and clarity, culminating in a radiant, full-bodied finale that celebrates not only the landscape but the human longing to seek and stand in awe before something far greater than ourselves.
“The second movement, The Ascension, begins with a deliberate passacaglia in the trombones that gradually builds into the most expansive and bombastic harmonic vista in the entire work. Having experienced Glacier Point from the valley floor in the first movement, the listener is now transported to its palatial outlook — revealed from approximately 7,214 feet above sea level, nearly 3,000 feet above the valley below.
“The third movement, Flight Cessna N52805 — The Sierras, opens with a sprightly melody in 7/8 meter, written while flying in a Cessna aircraft some 7,000 feet above historic landmarks — Half Dome, El Capitan, Vernal Falls, and beyond. The music traverses the vast, snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains, passes over the expansive Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve with its iconic calcium carbonate spires, and continues toward the Nevada desert.
“The final movement concludes with a play on present-day vernacular titled Tik-Tok for Climate Change, which abruptly gives way to an expressive meno mosso (“less quickly”) epilogue entitled Time Out underscoring the environmental and temporal concerns that frame the composition
“Yosemite is, for me, a meditation on scale, spirit, and our fragile connection to the natural world — a reminder of how deeply we depend on the beauty we are entrusted to preserve.”
© 2026 Paul Hyde
Paul Hyde, a longtime arts journalist, is an English instructor at Tri-County Technical College in South Carolina. He writes regularly for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the S.C. Daily Gazette, Classical Voice North America, ArtsATL and other publications. Readers may write to him at phyde@tctc.edu.