Dana Wilson - Composer

During the Ice Age, about 20,000 years ago, wild horses were often hunted for food. Because hunters were armed only with spears, they had to devise other means to trap and kill their prey. In 1866, evidence of a massive deposit of horse bones was discovered at Solutré, France, by a local archivist, Adrian Arceelin. He wrote a novel speculating that hunters drove the horses through the ravine in the area, up the mountain, and over the cliff. This piece is not intended as a literal representation of the event, but it does strive to capture reflective meditations amidst the "unbridled" energy of a herd of wild horses being driven fatalistically to their end. The piece was commissioned and premiered by the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings