The third movement of Shattering Suns by Stephen Taylor. Duration: 3'30"
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mp3 file (4.7 MB)
The central movement of Shattering Suns is a portrait of the Sun, an atomic furnace which contracts and expands as a living being breathes. The music is built on this breathing: the sound of the Sun, as recorded by Stanford scientist Alexander Kosovichev and played by the synthesizer. Over its low drone, massive chords slowly rise and fall in a breathing pattern. The whole movement realizes the same rising and falling pattern on a large scale: just as the music reaches its highest intensity, the tension releases into a rush of air and a repeated, descending harp pattern. As the music dies away, wordless singing can be heard--the only human voices in the entire piece.
Copyright © 1998-2001 by Stephen Taylor, [email protected]