Celestial Dance
Bill Alves
About this work:
Through my interest in the famous seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler, I came across the remarkable work he had done with tiling patterns, that is, the mathematical ways in which regular shapes can fit together to completely cover a surface. These explorations were not at all divorced from his work with astronomy, for Kepler was a part of a dying tradition of unity of music, arts, and science which extended back to the classical Greeks. This tradition perceived the beauty of the natural world through graceful patterns of numbers and tones, of geometry and planets, all dancing to the same exquisite choreography. The video animation, which was composed in tandem with the music, includes some of Kepler's tiling patterns, just as the patterns of the music fit together in audible tessalations.
Year composed: 2006
Duration: 00:11:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2 Flute, 2 Oboe, 2 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 4 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Tuba, 4 Percussion (General), 1 Celesta, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp
Instrumentation notes: Synthesizer may be substituted for celesta.
Percussion 1: 3 wine glasses tuned to G, Ab, and B
Percussion 2: Small triangle, tam-tam
Percussion 3: Medium triangle, suspended cymbal
Percussion 4: Large triangle, vibraphone