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electrothèque

Solar Winds… and Beyond

Elizabeth Anderson

Programme notes

The diptych Solar Winds… and Beyond was awarded the 1st prize in the Musica Nova 2015 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic).

Premiere

  • October 4, 2014, CIME / ICEM 2014: Concert 4, Paul Voertman Concert Hall — College of Music — University of North Texas, Denton (Texas, USA)

Awards

  • Composer(s): Elizabeth Anderson
  • Instrumentation: 8-channel fixed medium
  • Publisher(s): Ymx média

Works in this cycle

Solar Winds

The idea to present Solar Winds near the end of 2012 sprang from a desire to honor the astronomers of the ancient Mayan culture and their worship of the Sun at a time that marks the completion of one Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and the beginning of another. After an initial examination of several astronomical events, my interest centered on the relationship that solar winds, streams of charged particles emanating from the Sun, might have with the Earth’s magnetosphere. According to James Dungey’s (1923) open magnetosphere model, interplanetary field lines, which emanate from the Sun and are carried by solar winds, connect indeed with Earth’s magnetic field lines when they strike the Earth’s magnetosphere.

I found this model to offer an intriguing starting point for the sonorization of these non-sounding events via the acousmatic medium. Solar Winds incorporates acoustic translations of electromagnetic phenomena that are produced by the Earth as well as other astronomical phenomena, and constitutes an imaginary celestial aural journey from the perspective of the listener who is Earth.

[vi-13]

Solar Winds was realized in 2012 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches in Ohain (Belgium) and premiered on October 27, 2012 during the 8th festival Visiones Sonoras organized by the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS) in the Auditorio de la Unidad Académica Cultural of the UNAM Campus Morelia (Mexico). The piece was commissioned by Musiques & Recherches. Solar Winds was composed with support from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Direction générale de la culture, Service de la musique). Thanks to David Baltuch, Alexis Boilley, Rodrigo Sigal, and Annette Vande Gorne.

The diptych Solar Winds… and Beyond was awarded the 1st prize in the Musica Nova 2015 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic).

Premiere

  • October 27, 2012, Visiones Sonoras 8: Concierto 4, Auditorio de Vinculación Cultural — Campus Morelia — UNAM, Morelia (Mexico)
  • Year of composition: 2012
  • Cycle: Solar Winds… and Beyond
  • Duration: 9:37
  • Commission: Musiques & Recherches
  • ISRC: CAD501410013

… and Beyond

As a companion to Solar Winds, the octophonic electroacoustic work … and Beyond explores the cosmos beyond our immediate imagination. What universe lies beyond the limits of our imagination? What kind of phenomena would occur in this universe? Would they be the result of pure chance or destiny? What would then be the nature of this destiny? Describing such an environment necessitates that the composer imagine the unimaginable and that the listener accept it.

… and Beyond incorporates acoustic translations of astronomical phenomena and proposes an imaginary celestial aural journey from the perspective of the listener who voyages beyond the limit of our heliosphere and explores interstellar space.

[iii-15]

… and Beyond was realized in 2014 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio of Musiques & Recherches in Ohain (Belgium). … and Beyond was composed with support from the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Administration générale de la culture, Service de la musique). Thanks to David Baltuch and Annette Vande Gorne.

The diptych Solar Winds… and Beyond was awarded the 1st prize in the Musica Nova 2015 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic).

Premiere

  • October 4, 2014, CIME / ICEM 2014: Concert 4, Paul Voertman Concert Hall — College of Music — University of North Texas, Denton (Texas, USA)