(Opus 13, Composed June 2007)
In Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged, these are the words spoken by Eddie Willers to Pat Logan, the engineer selected by Dagny Taggart to operate the maiden run of her new John Galt line. It’s one of my favorite passages in the book, so I figured I’d name a rag after it. While this tune is entirely original, there are nonetheless references to other composers’ work herein. The A theme has a few chord changes that may faintly call to mind some of the modern rags of George Winston; the first eight measures of the B theme’s bass might remind one of Confrey’s Kitten on the Keys; the Trio is a subtle nod to Frank French’s Belle of Louisville, and the D theme is a direct homage to David Thomas Roberts’ Pinelands Memoir. I originally composed this for a contest. It received no awards or honorable mentions, but I’m still rather fond of the piece, and hope you like it, too.
“When she grasped it, she burst out laughing, suddenly, with the abruptness of a cry. She laughed, shaking, like a child; it sounded like sobs of deliverance. Pat Logan nodded to her with a faint smile; he had noted the guard of honor long ago. She leaned to the open window, and her arm swept in wide curves of triumph, waving to the men by the track.” Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, Part I, Chapter VIII, The John Galt Line.