90 Minutes Circling the Earth
for orchestra
(1998)
2 (picc.).2 (cor).2 (bass cl.).2 (contr.)
4.3.3.1 timp+2 strings
duration: 5’
GRT • 055
CD available
100 Years, Melbourne Symphony
Orchestra, A Celebration in
Music
MSO, Brett Kelly (cond.)
ABC Classics
video
Melbourne Symphony Encounter
website
audio sample
score
available from
Australian Music
Centre
program note
90 Minutes is the
time it takes for a space shuttle to circle the Earth. This
piece is inspired by observations made by astronauts from
various countries regarding what the Earth looks like from
outer space. Of particular interest to me was the notion of
'sunset' and 'sunrise':
"The sun truly 'comes up like
thunder', and it sets just as fast. Each sunrise and sunset
lasts only a few seconds. But in that time you see at least
eight different bands of color come and go, from a
brilliant red to the brightest and deepest blue. And you
see sixteen sunrises and sixteen sunsets every day you're
in space. No sunrise or sunset is ever the
same."
Joseph Allen - USA
I am fascinated by 'alternative'
time-frames and music can be an effective vehicle for
bending normal 'Earth' time. Consequently, my piece takes
about 5 minutes to represent a 90-minute space flight that
visually encompasses a full 24-hour 'Earth' day. The piece
begins in the Night cycle, floating through the immense
blackness and isolation:
"We entered into shadow. Contact with
Moscow was gone. Japan floated by beneath us and I could
clearly see its cities ablaze with lights. We left Japan
behind to face the dark emptiness of the Pacific Ocean. No
moon. Only stars, bright and far away. Very slowly,
agonizingly, half an hour passed, and with that, dawn on
Earth. First, a slim greenish-blue line on the farthest
horizon turning within a couple of minutes into a rainbow
that hugged the Earth and in turn exploded into a golden
Sun. You're out of your mind, I told myself, hanging onto a
ship in space, and to your life, and getting ready to
admire a sunrise."
Valeri Ryumin - USSR
The sudden event of Dawn ushers in the Day
cycle:
"We orbit and float in our space
gondola and watch the oceans and islands and green hills of
the continents pass by at five miles per second.... the
breathtaking speed of the ship is in odd and confusing
contrast to the feel of perpetually floating within the
spaceship... Are you speeding past oceans and continents,
or are you just hovering and watching them move beside
you?"
Jospeh Allen - USA
Finally comes Sunset:
"the minutes of the
evening twilight are fabulous. The hull of the station is
lit by the golden rays of the sun. The daylight part of the
Earth with its pink clouds and evening haze above the
surface is still visible while our spacecraft is already
sailing into the blackness of night."
Vladimir Vasyutin - USSR
During the writing of 90 Minutes Circling
the Earth (subtitled ‘hymn to freedom’) I became an uncle
and the dedication of the work to my new-born niece, Megan,
is reflected in the final observation:
"When the history
of our galaxy is written...if the planet Earth gets
mentioned at all, it won't be because its inhabitants
visited their own moon. The first step, like a new-born's
first cry, would be automatically assumed. What will be
worth recording is what kind of civilisation we Earthlings
created and whether or not we ventured out to other parts
of the Galaxy. Were we wanderers? Human history so far
indicates we are indeed. It's human nature to stretch, to
go, to see, to understand. Exploration is not a choice,
really, it's an imperative. “
Michael Collins - USA
article
available on resources
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