Seeing Stars ASymphonic Poem for Orchestra -with Night Ride and Hard Landing

In the weeks leading up to Christmas 2015, I made several visits to the centre of Prague, where I was living. The nocturnal scene was one of a myriad lights. This resulted in a story line occurring to me, which ran something like this:

 ‘It is winter and an insomniac keeps looking out of his apartment window at the stars in the night sky. Suddenly he is whisked away by a mysterious force and finds himself roller-coasting across a brilliantly lit city, before he is unceremoniously dumped in a deserted side street, having ‘seen stars’. In a state of bewilderment he makes his way home before drifting into comforting sleep.’ A fairy tale of sorts, one might say.

This is a musical portrayal of this light-hearted imagining. It is scored for a standard orchestra with celesta, harp and extended percussion. 

‘Seeing Stars’ is also a celebration of the magnificence of the sky at night. It falls broadly into three sections: an atmospheric prelude, a fast section consisting of two night rides and hard landings, and a postlude that brings the piece to a tranquil end.

The musical material consists of two themes, along with a series of ‘night ride’ musical representations. After the work’s opening chords, the main theme is introduced on bassoons. This idea undergoes many transformations in the course of the work. The aspiring second theme, its natural continuation, is introduced on trombones (at bar 35). It likewise recurs in various guises. Two dramatic climaxes, representing hard landings, are heard in the central section, the second longer and more violent than the first. The character of the music changes irretrievably, becoming initially serious, then consoling, and finally aspirant, as the insomniac finds himself back in the comfort of his warm apartment where he drifts into well-earned sleep. 

Following the first performance the timpani parts were revised.  

Duration: about 12 minutes