Equipment: MIDI Interface & Multitimbral Synth. or MIDI-compatible Sound Card
Needs: MIDI Sequencer Software or .MID File Player
Keywords: Howlett, Original, Classical, GM, General, MID, FD
Type: Freely Distributed
Total Instruments: 15 + Drums
Sequenced For: General MIDI
Playing Time: 3:52
This is a well-done original classical sequence entiled "The Unvanquished." The author states that this is the Movement No. 1 (Largamente) of his Symphony No. 1, composed in memory of the Columbine High School tragedy. This file is in Standard MIDI (Type 1) format.
Author's Notes: The loss of life is always great; always tragic. I liked telling my friends in Nebraska how much I loved Colorado for all of its beauty and friendliness and diversity. I told them a lot, and I always made it clear that I'd like to return to Colorado as soon as I could. Then when I return from work, I see on the news a story about all these students from Columbine High School being slain. I attended Standley Lake High School in Westminster, Colorado, which is in the same county as Columbine. I had visited the campus a few times for The Columbine Music Festival, an annual competition of bands from around Metro Denver. I remembered the students there who were acting as hosts. I wondered if any of those kids were killed that day. We all know this was not the first such act of violence in this country, and the school shootings at Pearl and Jonesboro and West Paducah were indeed real and indeed, unfortunate. But I had never been to any of those places. Having been to Columbine, having walked through its halls numerous occasions and having met some of the students there makes it more real for me. I am disgusted, disturbed, shocked, and saddened by what occurred on April 20, 1999. The "Unvanquished" is my tribute to those lives cut short in cold blood. I didn't know a single one of them, and had they lived, I probably never would have known them, even if I had stayed in Colorado. But the reality of their death has struck me hard. The reality of it happening in such a nice part of Denver has hit me worse. And the fact that it was in a place I was familiar with has hit me hardest of all--it is like having your heart's secrets plundered for all the world to see. You feel violated. This first movement describes my feelings towards the shootings--which are probably shared with those who attend the school as well as those around the country; anger intermingled with wonder, as to how something like this could happen in such a well-to-do part of Metro Denver. The other movements are soon to follow.
Note: This sequence can be used with non-GM synths by loading it into a sequencer and re-assigning the Program Change and MIDI Channel data to meet the requirements of your equipment.
