The Ghost of Moonville Tunnel by scottmichal

In the 1800’s a drunken conductor was run over by a train late one night near the town of Moonville, Ohio.  Over the next few years, there were many reports of a ghostly “bobbing lantern” and the legend of the Ghost of  Moonville Tunnel sprung up.  There are in fact, documented cases of very strange goings on involving death and mayhem!  During the depression, Moonville was abandoned, but to this day people swear that the bobbing lantern can still be seen.  This large scale symphonic poem in the grand tradition of Richard Strauss presents “ghostly” challenges to the orchestra as well! After I finished the work, I was informed that it was “too difficult” and the work went unperformed.  Since all of my work is written with a specific performance in mind, I had never been able to enter any competitions (they usually want unperformed works).  My prize winning entry in the Lancaster Festival International Composition Contest was heralded by the Columbus Dispatch as a “welcome addition to the Symphonic Repertoire, ready to take it’s rightful place beside “The Sorcerers Apprentice” and “Night on Bald Mountain”. This is my most frequently performed orchestral work.