Americantus is a fantasy on America the Beautiful in the spirit of Charles Ives. It was a response to the 2001 World Trade Center attacks in New York. I was especially moved by the spirit and res iliency of the city when I visited Manhattan the summer of 2002. Although it might be tempting to derive a program from sections and episodes within the work, it is intended as pure music for m usic's sake, with a modified chorale setting followed by increasingly energetic variations on my favorite Amer...