Ghost Fleet

Ghost Fleet, op. 71
Virginia Eastern District Junior High School Honor Band
Newport News, Virginia
2001 – grade 3 – 5:00
Alfred Music – #20266

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With lush harmonies and contemporary compositional techniques, "Ghost Fleet" takes you on the journey of long-forgotten warships as their "spirits" break free, returning to the high seas and former days of glory. Now a staple on many contest lists, "Ghost Fleet" is a must-have for every concert band. 

When asked to write a piece for the Virginia Eastern District Junior High School Honor Band, I learned the concert was to take place in Newport News, which happens to be the home of the “Ghost Fleet,” which is the nickname for the James River Reserve Fleet, the oldest of the eight original National Defense Reserve Fleet sites, and one of only three that are still in operation. Since 1919, the James River has been a resting place (or perhaps a graveyard?) for retired ships. When viewing these ships from shore across the wide river, they often look like ghosts with their battleship gray color often blending with the early morning and early evening fog or mist.  This became the inspiration for the piece, only I went further by incorporating some of the beliefs of the local indigenous population who believed that everything, including inanimate object have a spirit. 

The music begins with an ode to the ships, imagining their history and the stories they could tell.  As they rest in the cool, deep waters of the river, a clarion call awakens the spirit of one of the ships as it recalls victorious battles in its past, and it decides to escape and return to the high seas to live out its days as it was built to do.  The singing of its spirit encourages the ship onward and the music builds dramatically as the sound of metal scraping against metal is heard until it finally breaks the chains holding it to its anchor. The tempo increases, representing the ship’s mad dash to get to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  With the sounds of the fresh ocean winds and waves, the ship victoriously returns to the sea and its former glory!

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