Whistling My Way Across Wyoming’s Steppes

Last updated on: March 17, 2017 at 3:05 pm by Joseph Susanka

Whistling My Way Across Wyoming’s Steppes 2017-03-17T15:05:10-06:00 Joseph Susanka

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I’m a whistler. And I’ve been a whistler for just about as long as I can remember. (To my co-workers’ chagrin? Quite possibly.)

I’m also a walker. (No, not AMC’s kind of “walker.” Though I definitely feel like one, at times. Lots’o kids can do that to you. At least “lots’o younger kids who sometimes like to sneak their way into your bed late at night and thrash around just for the heck of it.” They can sleep through anything, apparently. Even their own thrashing. Me, though, not so much.)

Anyway… As I was walking to work this morning, I combined the two aforementioned activities and found myself whistling this:

“In the silence of the monotonous steppes of Central Asia is heard the unfamiliar sound of a peaceful Russian song. From the distance we hear the approach of horses and camels and the bizarre and melancholy notes of an oriental melody. A caravan approaches, escorted by Russian soldiers, and continues safely on its way through the immense desert. It disappears slowly. The notes of the Russian and Asiatic melodies join in a common harmony, which dies away as the caravan disappears in the distance.”

I’m not sure why Borodin’s epic tone poem popped into my head, really. Yes, there are nowhere near as many evergreens here in Lander as there are in the just-departed Washington. But still, it’s not exactly desolate. Especially not in town. But I love “In the Steppes of Central Asia,” so I’m not complaining. It’s incredibly evocative stuff (which is sort of ironic, given Borodin’s interest in “absolute music.”)

It takes a while to get going, so wait it out ’til at least the 3:24 mark before you bail. …or go here. (Man, I’m such an enabler. But while I’m enabling, how’s about a link to the finale of Borodin’s Symphony No. 2 in B Minor. It’ll get your blood flowing, for sure.)

And speaking of “irrational,” I’m really bothered by the fact that Alexander Porfir’yevich’s famous musical tableau is “IN the Steppes.” I feel like it should be “ON.” (Don’t ask me why I feel that way. I don’t make the rules.)

Music

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