Tycho's Machine
Christian Kriegeskotte
About this work:
This piece was commissioned by renowned conductor Denis Colwell, former director of the River City Brass Band for the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble. Below is an excerpt from a short blog entry regarding how the work came to be:
"A few weeks ago I had a coffee shop meeting with Denis Colwell, a former conducting teacher of mine as well as the retired music director and conductor of the acclaimed River City Brass Band and current conductor of the Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble. After a latte and some chatter about this and that Denis and I struck a deal resulting in the composition of my newest work, "Tycho's Machine."
Very simply, it is a piece I have been planning now for years but lacking the proper venue or opportunity to bring it to life it has lived in my "to-do" composition journal since I dreamt it up. The work is inspired by the movement of the planets through the Zodiac as demonstrated by one of the fabulous wonders of mechanico-scientific art we have inherited from the Renaissance; the Armillary Sphere. While astronomical instruments of this nature have existed for millennia (let us not deny credit to the Astrolabe and the wondrous Antikythera Mechanism), it is the fabulous splendor and esotericism of Renaissance pseudo-alchemical scientific investigation by which I am most influenced.
"The title, "Tycho's Machine" is in reference to one of the Armillary Sphere's creators, the 16th century astronomer and mathematician Tycho Brahe. Indeed, growing up I knew the device by its more common moniker, the Brahe Sphere. While the Brahe Sphere is mechanical, I am also implying that the motion of the planets across the ecliptic plane and how we perceive their motion is no less than a form of great cosmic clockwork, finely tuned and ever advancing as we hurdle through space. In my piece, which I am considering a sort of static theme and variations, I present the listener with twelve sonorities (based upon instrumentation and articulation more so than harmonic structure) that each represent a sign in the Zodiac. As we travel through the Zodiac, unique musical events fade in and out representing the planets passing through each sign. These events are ultimately dominated by a constant eighth-note pulse throughout, representing the mechanism itself as it ticks and booms behind the scenes. It is this constant pulse I am considering a sort of abstract "theme" and each of the planets and signs are the variations." (June 16, 2010)
Version: For Symphonic Winds
Year composed: 2010
Duration: 00:10:00
Ensemble type: Band:Wind Ensemble
Instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 3 Flute, 2 Oboe, 1 English Horn, 8 Clarinet, 1 Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 1 Contrabassoon, 4 Horn in F, 4 Trumpet, 3 Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 4 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Celesta, 3 Double bass
Instrumentation notes: Ideally, this work will include a small section of double basses, i.e., three to four performers. If this is not possible it is acceptable to amplify a single bass.
Piano/celesta is played by one performer.