"Smile of the Great Spirit" is a translation of the Abenaki word 'winnipesaukee' and is a musical portrait of a day on the lake of the same name in New Hampshire. I was there on vacation when commissioned to write a piece, and I couldn't think of a better subject. The piece begins at dawn and moves throughout the day, portraying the sun, the scintillating water, the mountains overlooking the valley and the clouds above. There are also moments of a storm--one of those fast-moving storms that you experience there in the summer--and just as quickly as it came, it dissipates and the glorious sun shines through, creating myriad colors and reflections on the water and in the air. After that, the piece settles down into the evening with the onset of dusk and nightfall, as if a background for the ubiquitous sounds of nature as the sun disappears.
