PROGRAM NOTES: Beyond The Night Sky
The idea for Beyond the Night Sky came from conversations with my then four-year-old son about our solar system and beyond. Whenever he asked a question about the expanse beyond our solar system he would use the term "past the night sky” because he didn’t know how to describe it otherwise. I began to think of how he saw the universe and what ancient people possibly thought when they looked up at the night sky.
The piece is divided into two distinct sections. The opening begins with subdued chords that build as the section develops, and uses harmonic language that is mainly triadic in nature, eluding to a child's simplistic view of space. This section portrays the awe a child (or anyone) feels the first time they look into the sky away from the city lights and observe the wondrous sight of the blanket of stars in the sky. The second section features an ostinato that forms the foundation from which energetic melodic ideas are allowed to float upon. It is quick and lively in nature and depicts a child's daydream of flying through outer space past distant stars and planets.
Beyond The Night Sky was commissioned in 2015 by the Texas Womans University Flute Choir, Pam Youngblood - director. It was premiered at the 2015 National Flute Association Convention in Washington, DC.
The piece is divided into two distinct sections. The opening begins with subdued chords that build as the section develops, and uses harmonic language that is mainly triadic in nature, eluding to a child's simplistic view of space. This section portrays the awe a child (or anyone) feels the first time they look into the sky away from the city lights and observe the wondrous sight of the blanket of stars in the sky. The second section features an ostinato that forms the foundation from which energetic melodic ideas are allowed to float upon. It is quick and lively in nature and depicts a child's daydream of flying through outer space past distant stars and planets.
Beyond The Night Sky was commissioned in 2015 by the Texas Womans University Flute Choir, Pam Youngblood - director. It was premiered at the 2015 National Flute Association Convention in Washington, DC.
--- Peter Senchuk