American West Folk Suite: III. Rock Island Line, by David Ahrens

"American West Folk Suite" for Wind Band, by David Ahrens
III. Rock Island Line

The third and final movement in this suite for band. “Rock Island Line” refers the Rock Island and La Salle Railroad company (established 1947)
which soon after became the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad. When construction of the railroad arrived at Rock Island in 1854, it became the first to connect Chicago with the Mississippi River. This folk song references an encounter between an operator of a toll gate and a train engineer who is let through without paying by lying about his payload. Once safely through, he yells back his confession as the train speeds onward. The earliest known version of the song was published in 1929.

Grade 3.5

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