It was years ago, but I remember attending a late Sunday afternoon concert in Kresge Auditorium here at Interlochen. I was sitting in my favorite seat at the back so I could see both the lake and the orchestra, which that day was performing Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite.”
As I gazed out over Green Lake, I noticed that it was getting darker by the minute — really quite ominous — and when the musicians reached the final section, "Cloudburst", the clouds actually did seem to burst over the lake. With rain beating on the roof of Kresge and the sky filled with lightning, the storm and the music almost seemed synchronized.
Every time I’ve heard the piece since, I’ve remembered the cloudburst over a lake in the Northwoods... so very like that over the Grand Canyon. But you see, I had always imagined Grofe riding a braying clip-clopping burro on the trail to the edge of the canyon rim. And apparently, he had visited the Grand Canyon many times.
But the cloudburst — the violent storm that inspired the piece — occurred not in Arizona, but over a little Northwoods lake in Wisconsin. Apparently, in 1931 the composer was under a deadline and though he entertained the concept of ending the suite with cloudburst, he had no score.
Jazz conductor Paul Whitemen suggested that he retreat to a secluded lakeside cottage near Hayward. And there in the Great Lakes Region, he experienced a sudden heavy downpour complete with thunder. Allegedly, he was in the outhouse when the storm hit.
Thus inspired, his concept turned into a memorable score!
