To try to give a picture of the pioneer experience, he says, artists often take a kind of mythic approach. "In the overall, myth is often more true than history. History can never tell the whole truth. Music, dance, poetry can say what plain words can not say."

From the beginning, Cundick loved Hart's poem. "The thing that drove me was a great desire to keep that piece alive." Just as it is also important to keep the heritage of Virginia Tanner alive, he says. "Fewer and fewer people realize what a monument of vision and energy she was."

Setting poetry to music offers its own challenges, says Cundick. "Good poetry has its own music. You don't want to destroy that." But, adds Miller, "the right music can add emotional depth." The poem's author "has a genius for distilling meaning, for putting just the right word in the right place to achieve maximum impact. Bob's music does the same."

His music has been described as "tonal and directly expressive," Cundick says. In this case it is traditional; it weaves in phrases of hymns and folk music. "My ideal has always been to write something that does not need a lecture to understand but goes right to the heart."

The various media involved in this project mean you can approach it in many ways, says Cundick. "I'd hope people will approach the poem as a poem first, and when they understand it, then add the music. But, with dance, it's the other way around. I'd hope they become familiar with the music, and then add the visual. Dance turns music into motion."

In both cases, he hopes the listener will be challenged, will involve himself in the process. That's what adds depth and dimension, he says. "As with any work of art, you hope it will be a catalyst to a larger view. "

The pioneer trek was a physical journey, adds Miller. "People crossed deserts with grime on their faces and calluses on their hands. But it was a spiritual journey, too. That sense of the sacred is so beautifully portrayed here."

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com