Works » By Title » F » Fugue for Sam (13:21 / 1989)

Fugue for Sam is my third work inspired by amusement parks. Sam ran and maintained the Comet at Crystal Beach Park (Ontario) for many years until the park regrettably closed forever on Labour Day, 1989. Sam was a very special person with a wonderfully resonant Italian accent. I recorded him along with ambient park sounds at various times. These became the raw material for a kind of fugue, similar to the kind of poly-textural thing Glenn Gould did in his famous CBC Solitude Trilogy. Fugal procedures (subject, counter-subject, stretto, episode) occur. The Comet is easily one of the best roller coasters in the world and was fortunately moved (relocated) to The Great Escape Park in Lake George, New York. Fugue for Sam is my tribute to both the man and the ride.