The Far North Land:

Passages for String Quartet

Also available for School Band or Wind Ensemble or String Orchestra or Six Violas
and for Clarinet Quartet, Clarinet Choir or Flute Quartet

Duration: 3 minutes

Awarded Honorable Mention by Imagine Music Publishing
in both the 2010 Pathways Contest (String Orchestra) and the 2010 Fusion Contest (Band)

The OdeonQuartet: The Far North Land The Far North Land: Passages for String Quartet

The Utopia Winds: The Far North Land The Far North Land: Passages for Clarinet Quartet

The Far North Land for Clarinet Choir has been a resounding success for the Thornbury Clarinet Choir, both at its 2013 Christmas Concert and at the Clarinet Convention held at Cardiff University in May 2014.
          —Tony Fleming, Thornbury Clarinet Choir

Text · Performance History · Sheet Music

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. I have since learned that the tune is known in the U.K. as "The Road to the Isles," a Scottish tune.

The Far North Land 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 on October 20, 2003.

The Far North Land

It's the Far North Land that's a-calling me away,
as take I with my pack sack to the road.
It's the call on me of the forests in the North,
as step I with the sunlight for my load.

By Lake Duncan and Clear Water to the Bear Skin I will go,
where you see the loon and hear its plaintive wail.
If you're thinking in your inner heart I swagger in my step,
you've never been along the Border Trail.

Purchase Sheet Music

Sheet music for The Far North Land for string quartet is available from J.W.Pepper & Sheet Music Plus.

Sheet music for The Far North Land for six violas is available from J.W.Pepper & Sheet Music Plus.

Sheet music for The Far North Land for string orchestra is available from J.W.Pepper & Imagine Music Publishing.

Sheet music for The Far North Land for wind ensemble is available from Sheet Music Plus.

Sheet music for The Far North Land for clarinet quartet is available from Art of Sound Music.

Sheet music for The Far North Land for clarinet choir is available from Art of Sound Music.

Sheet music for The Far North Land for flute quartet is available from J.W.Pepper & Sheet Music Plus.

Performance History: String Quartet

Concert preview broadcast on Classical KING-FM 98.1 (www.king.org) October 20, 2003, by the OdeonQuartet, Kirkland Performance Center, Kirkland, Washington

Premiere October 21, 2003, by the OdeonQuartet, Town Hall, Seattle, Washington.

June 28, 2014, the Sorella String Quartet at Los Altos, California.

April 8, 2015, the Raphael Spiro String Quartet at Parry Psychiatric Center for Children in Portland, Oregon.

May 9, 2015, the Raphael Spiro String Quartet at Doernbecher Children's Center & at Randall Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

June 24, 2015, the Raphael Spiro String Qurtet at Providence Child Center in Portland, Oregon.

July 8, 2015, the Raphael Spiro String Quartet at Edwards School & at Providence Child Center in Portland, Oregon.

September 30, 2015, the Raphael Spiro String Quartet at Doernbecher Children's Center & at Randall Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

November 11, 2015, the Raphael Spiro String Quartet at the Community Music Center in Portland, Oregon.

Performance History: String Orchestra

Premiere October 6, 2012, by the Tabor College Chamber Strings, under Daniel Baldwin, Hillsboro, Kansas.

March 9, 2013, by the Sarpsborg Ungdomsorkester (Youth Orchestra), under Maria Dahl, Sarpsborg, Norway.

Performance History: Clarinet Quartet

Premiere September 28, 2013, by the Dionysus Clarinet Quartet at the Spring Street Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY.

October 26, 2013, the Dionysus Clarinet Quartet at Saratoga Springs, NY.

August 13, 2015, Compass Clarinets at St. Dionysius Church, Market Harborough, U.K.

November 18, 2015, Compass Clarinets at Holy Trinity Church, Leeds, U.K.

Performance History: Clarinet Choir

Premiere July 5, 2013, by Livas Quartet at the Bristol Centre for Music and the Arts, Bristol, U.K.

September 19, 2013, by the Livas Quartet at Colston Hall, Bristol, U.K.

December 14, 2013, by the Thornbury Clarinet Choir at Cossham Hall, Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, U.K.

December 15, 2013, by the DC's Different Drummers Clarinet Choir at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, Washington, D.C.

May 4, 2014, by the Thornbury Clarinet Choir at the Cardiff Clarinet Convention, Cardiff, Wales.

Performance History: Six Violas

Premiere June 29, 2014, world premiere performance by an ensemble of high school students at the concluding concert of the Max Aronoff Viola Institute Summer Festival at Bastyr University Chapel, Kenmore, Washington.

Performance History: Wind Ensemble

Premiere December 14, 2014, world premiere performance by the Mid America Freedom Band at the J.C. Nichols Auditorium, National World War I Museum, Kansas City, Missouri.