Earth and All Stars (Parts)

'On a crisp cold night in December she gazes upward and stands in awe of the heavens. She realizes that the earth is only a tiny part of something greater.' This scenario provides the backdrop for this composition which was inspired by the night sky as viewed by my six-year-old from our home in Louisiana. It begins with the theme in the clarinets. The rest of the ensemle gradually reveals itself as if one discovers a star not previously noticed in the sky. The music reaches its climax at measure 34 where we are humbled by the sheer multitude of stars in the sky and realize our place in the universe. The piece ends with twinkling stars portrayed in the flute oboe clarinet and bells.

Music of the Spheres was commissioned by the Yorkshire Building Society Band and first performed by them at the European Brass Band Championships in Glasgow May 2004.The piece reflects the composers fascination with the origins of the universe and deep space in general. The title comes from a theory formulated by Pythagoras that the cosmos was ruled by the same laws he had discovered that govern the ratios of note frequencies of the musical scale. (‘Harmonia’ in Ancient Greek which means scale or tuning rather than harmony - Greek music was monophonic). He also believed that these ratios corresponded to the distances of the sixknown planets from the sun and thatthe planets each produced a musical note which combined to weave a continuous heavenly melody (which unfortunately we humans cannot hear). In this work these six notes form the basis of the sections Music of the Spheres and Harmonia.The pieces opens with a horn solo called t = 0 a name given by some scientists to the moment of the Big Bangwhen time and space were created and this is followed by a depiction of the Big Bangitself as the entire universe bursts out from a single point. A slower section follows called The Lonely Planet which is a meditation on the incredible and unlikely set of circumstances which led to the creation of the Earth as a planet that can support life and the constant search for other civilizations elsewhere in the universe. Asteroids and Shooting Stars depicts both the benign and dangerous objects that are flying through space and which constantly threaten our planet and the piece ends with The Unknown leaving in question whether our continually expanding exploration of the universe will eventually lead to enlightenment or destruction.