Cosmic Dancer
for tenor trombone & orchestra (2012)
duration 23.5 minutes
instrumentation 3(3 dbl. pic.)2(2 dbl. eng. h.)2(2 dbl b. cl.)2(2 dbl. cb.)-4331-solo tenor trombone-timpani-2 perc-strings
premiere 15th March 2013 by Christian Schmiedescamp and the Copenhagen Phil, conducted by Christian Kluxen, at the Concert Hall of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen
Score available from Donemus
program
Cosmic Dancer is a trombone concerto in one movement inspired by Eastern Philosophy and the Hubble telescope’s photos of colliding galaxies. The piece takes its name from Nataraja, being a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe before Brahma starts the process of creation.
The music opens with the night sky, rendered through passages of almost complete stillness, with short glissandi in the strings punctuating the scene like falling stars. These passages give way to three sections in turn, each depicting galaxies of different types. Unlike a traditional concerto-role for the soloist, the trombone in this first half of the piece acts not as a main melodist above an accompaniment, but rather as instigator. Its role is to set off small motifs that get carried through the orchestra, sometimes trailing off into the distance and at other times spiralling through keys. The results build in drama as the soloist becomes overwhelmed by the multitudinous flows around them, a stark contrast with the simplicity of the trombone’s original phrases. Shiva the destroyer fulfils his role as these musical galaxies eventually collide with each other, resulting in a cataclysmic climax.
Out of the ensuing emptiness the trombone introduces new life, its melody floating high above a gentle droning section, where the orchestra recreates the Shiva-dedicated Thillai Natarajah Temple in Chidambaram, India. Based on the measurements of the temple, its early-reflections and reverberation are brought to the concert hall by the orchestra’s instruments echoing and sustaining the notes of the trombone's melody.
A fast and lively section follows in which the trombone works to re-invigorate the orchestra, building up to several passages in the high winds and strings soaring above large brass-carried chords. After a large culmination the music finally subsides into a slow falling canon under which the trombone lyrically brings us to the piece's finishing chords.
duration 23.5 minutes
instrumentation 3(3 dbl. pic.)2(2 dbl. eng. h.)2(2 dbl b. cl.)2(2 dbl. cb.)-4331-solo tenor trombone-timpani-2 perc-strings
premiere 15th March 2013 by Christian Schmiedescamp and the Copenhagen Phil, conducted by Christian Kluxen, at the Concert Hall of the Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen
Score available from Donemus
program
Cosmic Dancer is a trombone concerto in one movement inspired by Eastern Philosophy and the Hubble telescope’s photos of colliding galaxies. The piece takes its name from Nataraja, being a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer who performs his divine dance to destroy a weary universe before Brahma starts the process of creation.
The music opens with the night sky, rendered through passages of almost complete stillness, with short glissandi in the strings punctuating the scene like falling stars. These passages give way to three sections in turn, each depicting galaxies of different types. Unlike a traditional concerto-role for the soloist, the trombone in this first half of the piece acts not as a main melodist above an accompaniment, but rather as instigator. Its role is to set off small motifs that get carried through the orchestra, sometimes trailing off into the distance and at other times spiralling through keys. The results build in drama as the soloist becomes overwhelmed by the multitudinous flows around them, a stark contrast with the simplicity of the trombone’s original phrases. Shiva the destroyer fulfils his role as these musical galaxies eventually collide with each other, resulting in a cataclysmic climax.
Out of the ensuing emptiness the trombone introduces new life, its melody floating high above a gentle droning section, where the orchestra recreates the Shiva-dedicated Thillai Natarajah Temple in Chidambaram, India. Based on the measurements of the temple, its early-reflections and reverberation are brought to the concert hall by the orchestra’s instruments echoing and sustaining the notes of the trombone's melody.
A fast and lively section follows in which the trombone works to re-invigorate the orchestra, building up to several passages in the high winds and strings soaring above large brass-carried chords. After a large culmination the music finally subsides into a slow falling canon under which the trombone lyrically brings us to the piece's finishing chords.