Stargazing

"In 2002, I was commissioned by the Turtle Creek Chorale to compose a three-movement star-themed piece for their upcoming 'celestial' concert. I immediately knew that I wanted strings and celeste to serve as my 'heavenly' accompaniment; but what text should I choose? After immersing myself in poetry, I whittled it down to three that sang to me: Creator of the Universe, a Plato translation; We Are the Stars, an Algonquin Native-American poem; and (I couldn’t resist) Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

 

Creator of the Universe is a haunting movement breathing life into Plato’s rumination on the genesis of the universe and the birth of the human soul. The celeste combined with violin harmonics give this movement an ethereal quality.

 

We are the Stars is a spirited movement whereby the poet declares, 'We are the stars which sing… Our light is our voice…' The rapidly alternating 3/8 and 2/4 meters, and ebb-and-flow dynamics, dance in celebration with the text.

 

Twinkle opens with an aleatoric section evoking twinkling stars in the night sky. The first variation on the familiar theme is in the minor mode evoking a lonely quality when pondering, 'little star, how I wonder what you are.' Various emotions are met along the way as reverence for the star grows, culminating in joy when the protagonist proclaims, '’Tis your bright and tiny spark, lights the trav’ller in the dark.'"

 

—James Eakin III