Michael Montgomery: The Earth is Precious for double bass trio

About the Composition

The Earth is Precious is inspired by excerpts from the famous 1854 speech “This Earth is Precious” by Chief Seattle (c.1780-1866), a leader of the Duwamish and Suquamish peoples, in response to President Franklin Pierce's offer to buy Indian lands.

The title of each of the five movements is taken from the speech and the music is colorful and vibrant, evocative and atmospheric, with none of the movements outstaying their welcome, and would be ideal for an intermediate bass trio looking for something new, inventive and accessible.

A spoken narration by one or more performers before each movement would set the music in context and help to create an immediate connection with the audience.

1. “Every part of the earth – every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods – all are sacred in the memory of my people.”

A certain wistfulness is here depicted with a melancholic B minor melody, the opening of this rather pensive first movement. This melody soon gives way to a more optimistic middle section in G major and, after a return of the opening, we are finally brought home with a closing cadence in D major.

2. “The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is the blood of our ancestors, its murmur the voice of our father’s father.”

The bubbling syncopated accompaniment is followed by a more flowing melody in basses two and three, and a quick recap of the first animated section brings the movement to its finale.

3. “What is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the argument of frogs around a pond at night?”

If one’s back porch happens be in the proximity of any pond or stream, a summer’s post-supper evening spent in a comfy chair on that porch will most certainly present that individual with a lovely cacophony of noisily serenading night creatures, not the least of which are the local frogs, depicted here most especially in the many dissonances on the middle section.

4. “The air, sweetened by meadow flowers, shares its spirit with all life it supports – beasts, trees, and man – it is the wind that gave our grandfather his first breath and received his last sigh.”

The opening stately fanfare, with its tender underpinning accompaniment, reflects the boundless expanse of the open meadows of old and the first peoples to whom they would surely have been home. A reflective lullaby that follows sings of a sadness for so many things lost.

5. “The earth is our mother, the ground beneath our feet, ashes of our grandfathers, rich with the lives of our kin.”

In this fifth movement I chose to, rather than portray “Our Mother” with the obvious calm serenity, imagine and present several pertinent qualities we might sometimes overlook: the opening melody is both jovial and friendly, in the next we might sense strength and perseverance, and in the third we could possibly find a sentimental tenderness, qualities we would wish for in our own mother as well as “Mother Earth”.

[Michael Montgomery, July 2025]

About the Composer

Double bassist Michael Montgomery, a student of Robert Rohe (Principal Bass, New Orleans Symphony) and Lucas Drew (Principal Bass, Miami Philharmonic), earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in double bass performance from the University of Miami, played full-time in the bass section of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra for two decades.

He now lives in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, where he teaches double bass at the University of Arkansas Fayetteville and privately in his home studio. Michael has composed numerous works for young double bassists (including over five dozen short bass quartets for young students) which are published by Recital Music and two American publishers.

His articles about bass performance, literature, and teaching have been published in American Suzuki Journal, Bass World, and Pastoral Music.