"The Sleeping Place of the Stars" is a piece of band music literature written by Ralph Ford. He was commissioned by the Homewood, Alabama Middle School Band to write the tune, with the inspiration coming from a poem of the same title written by Ethel Armes. The poem contains the line "I have found the sleeping place of the stars. It is in Shades Valley... down, way down into the depths of Green Eternal...".
Shades Valley was once a very dense forest, located at the present-day site of Homewood, Alabama. Lying against the Appalachian mountains, the foliage was so thick that even local Native Americans frequently got lost in the valley while hunting. Even so, the Native Americans held annual rituals there to welcome the arrival of Spring.
The Sleeping Place of the Stars is divided into parts. Flute solos, accompanied by light oboe or clarinet parts, are a recurring theme in the piece. The piece opens with what could be considered the main theme of the entire piece.
The piece then moves into the part called the Valley of Darkness. This section features the rainstick. There is whispering amongst some of the woodwind instruments, and a notable flute solo is performed here.
The following passage is entitled The Green Corn Dance, the name of the local Indian's Spring ritual. This part includes foot stomping, hand clapping, and vocal "hahs" among some of the woodwinds. After the Green Corn Dance, the piece moves back into the main theme of the song, Shades Valley.
The piece then soars into Depths of Green Eternal, a part which has a half-time feel, and the piece ends.
"The Sleeping Place of the Stars" was published in 2002 and is played by bands of varying ages across America, including marching bands, middle school and high school bands.
Famous quotes containing the words sleeping, place and/or stars:
“When I think of him, and his six sons, and his son-in-law, not to enumerate the others, enlisted for this fight, proceeding coolly, reverently, humanely to work, for months if not years, sleeping and waking upon it, summering and wintering the thought, without expecting any reward but a good conscience, while almost all America stood ranked on the other side,—I say again that it affects me as a sublime spectacle.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“And the chandeliers are neat . . .
But their mignon, marblish glare!
We are cold, the parrots cried,
In a place so debonair.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“So that’s our new flag. The thing we’ve been fighting for—thirteen stripes for the colonies and thirteen stars in a circle for the union.”
—Lamar Trotti (1898–1952)