My father enjoyed singing, particularly when the family went on road trips. One of our favorite songs that he sang was "The Far North Land." The text of the song is below. Several years ago, my sister recorded our father singing this song for use on the soundtrack of one of her movies. I recently transcribed the song from that recording and used it as the foundation for this piece. My aunts tell me they recall my father singing this song when he was a boy growing up in Minnesota, and that they referred to it as "Fletch's song." It was only while working on this piece that I discovered that Duncan, Clear Water and Bear Skin are actual lakes in the border lakes region where Minnesota meets Canada.

The piece is dedicated to my sister, Gail Bartholomew Gilbert.

The original version of this piece, a setting for six violas, was selected for performance at the 30th International Viola Congress in June 2002. The setting for string quartet was premiered by the odeonquartet at Seattle's Town Hall on October 21, 2003, as part of the Sound Currents series of concerts co-sponsored by the Washington Composers Forum and the Seattle Composers Alliance. The odeonquartet's performance was broadcast live around the world on the internet and the radio on Classic KING 98.1 FM (www.king.org) on October 20, 2003.