Solitudes Volume Four

Dan Gibson - Solitudes Volume Four

cassette released in 1982

NIAGARA FALLS, THE GORGE AND GLEN

No matter how many photographs of Niagara Falls you've seen, your first real sight of The Falls is unforgettable. But equally unforgettable, even awesome, is the thought of descending some 180 feet to the basin of the falls, suiting up in a waterproof outfit, and sailing through the swirling waters, waters as deep as the falls are high, then through the enveloping mists, past the cascading American Falls, right up into the thundering heart of the Horseshoe Falls. The Maid of The Mist landing is the starting point of Side 1. The falls are heard in the near distance, and the gulls and terns provide an unexpected nautical feeling to the start of the adventure.
Soon we are right alongside the staggering cataract. This is the roar you will remember for the rest of your life. A roar that can dependably conjure up memories of mists and the rainbow that curves through the mists on any sunny day.
When we cross the parklands, again with the falls in the distance, we hear song birds, the cardinal and common flicker. We are on our way to the place that has enticed film producers and daredevils, one of the most treacherous stretches of white water in North America, the Niagara Gorge.
The canyon floor of the gorge, where we hear the swiftly plunging, and dangerous rapids, is 230 feet down. Now we can hear the violence of the river, a violence that has taken many lives of those who have challenged it.
From the excitement of the falls and the violence of the gorge, we move downriver to the ancient beauty and tranquility of the Niagara Glen, where, along the nature paths, past the debris of Ice Age avalanches, we hear the sounds of spring in the glen, chickadees, a nuthatch, a brown thrasher, even a chipmunk and in the background a red-tailed hawk.
Along the calmer reaches of the river, a little further downstream, a chorus of robins, some old squaw ducks, and easiest of all to identify a flock of Canada geese that happens to pass overhead.
Niagara has many moods, and each one has a vital sound that brings memories of a tour through the area flooding back.
On Side 2 we'll continue the tour through a totally different kind of Niagara experience.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Ring-billed Gulls, Common Tern, Cardinal, Common Flicker, Gray Squirrel, Black-capped Chickadees, Eastern Chipmunk, Red-tailed Hawk, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Thrasher, Robins, Old Squaw Ducks, Canada Geese

AMONG THE PONDS AND STREAMS OF NIAGARA

Meditation is a method of relaxation that doesn't come easily to everybody. We need help, a stimulus of some sort, something to trigger the meditating process.
Side 2 might do it.
A few minutes walk up river from the falls brings us to a delightful area of ponds and streams, diverted from the main river. Here, amid woodland trails, lovely islands, and grassy knolls, you can wander for hours, lost in a miniature Eden.
The hypnotic tunes of the rushing stream harmonize perfectly with a myriad of bird calls. This is a sequence to accompany the mind as it drifts away from 'now', and moves back to 'then.'
But, one can't drift forever, even in meditation. To bring you gently back to reality you find yourself at the river rapids above the falls, and then, the distant roar of the falls themselves urges you back into the present, and the raucous cries of herring gulls and black-backed gulls confirm the fact the meditation is over. You are back where you began the Niagara experience ... back at Niagara Falls.

WILDLIFE SPECIES FEATURED
Song Sparrow, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-throat, House Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Mourning Dove, Northern Oriole, Common Crow, Mallard Ducks, American Toads, Robin, Cardinal, Eastern Phoebe, Herring Gulls, Black-backed Gulls

(from the liner notes)

Tracklisting:

Side 1

1. Niagara Falls, The Gorge and Glen {29:09}

Side 2

1. Among the Streams and Ponds of Niagara {29:05}

(1)