Video is optimized for broadband access. Wide-angle lenses used to record video straighten the curves out. For a truer sense of twistiness watch the mirror dip .
Joy, divine spark of the Gods
Child of Heaven
Drunk with happiness, we ride
Oh divine, your sanctuary!
It has been said that what makes the vocal finale of Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony so powerful and moving is the slow build up in the first three
movements. The famous Ode to Joy melody is hinted at by the woodwind section
in the second movement, disappears and then returns with force in the chorus
of voices, tympani and cymbals in the symphony’s grand conclusion. That seems
to be what the composer of this wetland DH had in mind when he laid out this
series of beautifully paved movements. Scenery and Engineering are strong
throughout this ride, particularly in the easy, early miles along the
Columbia. But the melody line of curves is subtle until you pass Skamokawa and
shift inland. Here, the corners intensify on a remote, forested piece through
the trees, only to slowly fade again as you pass Gray’s River and Rosburg,
disappearing almost entirely until the junction with Hwy 101. Turning south
here, the DH reaches its long-awaited crescendo in the gorgeously engineered,
oceanside curves through lonely seaside salt marshes. When the ninth debuted
in Vienna in 1824, the audience leapt to its feet in thunderous applause even
before the piece was concluded. When you reach this DH’s final movement,
you’ll no doubt be edging off your seat, too.
