Legacy

My journey with Legacy began after seeing Brooklyn’s Bridge, a new musical sponsored, in part, by the Dr. Philips Center in Orlando, Florida. It focuses on Emily Roebling, an engineer who guided several years of work on the bridge after her husband, Washington (credited as chief engineer of the project) became ill from caisson disease. The show piqued my interest, so I began reading David McCullough’s The Great Bridge, which chronicles the design and construction of the Brooklyn Bridge (1867-1883), considered to be a symbol of innovation and progress. The preface includes this excerpt from Montgomery Schuyler’s article, “The Bridge as a Monument,” published in Harper’s Weekly (May 24, 1883):

“It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.”

Schuyler’s reflection stopped me in my tracks. That’s it. This is what “it” is about. Building bridges. Making connections. Being (or at least trying to be…) selfless. The quote sums up my personal mission statement and what I’ve hoped to impart to students all along the way. I immediately wrote out the text, thinking about the rhythmic flow of the words, and started setting it to music. My focus was to create a melody, supported by piano accompaniment. The SATB texture was added later, so that an ensemble could think about and express these ideas together.

-Sandra Peter