According to NASA, ‘Oumuamua is the first confirmed object from another star to visit our solar system. This interstellar interloper appears to be a rocky, cigar-shaped object with a somewhat reddish hue. The object was named ‘Oumuamua by its discoverers. It means “a messenger from afar arriving first” in Hawaiian. ‘Oumuamua is up to one-quarter mile (400 meters) long and highly-elongated – perhaps 10 times as long as it is wide. The observations suggest this unusual object had been wandering through the Milky Way, unattached to any star system, for hundreds of millions of years before its chance encounter with our star system.
As it moves slowly and steadily across the solar system, ‘Oumuamua hides in the blackness of space, sending faint signals to Earth, until suddenly it reveals itself to our detection systems. ‘Oumuamua is represented by a semitonal motif throughout, that builds into a final chordal sequence. The nature of this piece is generally slow moving, but sporadically interrupted by fragments of textures and melodies, like scraps of rock burning up in our atmosphere. It concludes with the cosmic interloper disappearing into space once again.
Premiered at the Cutty Sark, London for the Trinity Laban Daryl Runswick Competition Final, New Lights Festival 2024.
Conductor: Gregory Rose
Audio Engineer: Kit Venables
Flute I: Emma Colston
Flute II/Piccolo: Mary Bull Oboe/Cor Anglais: Lydia Brookes
Clarinet/Bass Clarinet: Clare Henley
Saxophones: Lily Skinner
Trumpet: Iris Rushbrooke
Trombone: Danny Sampson
Tuba: Lewis Chinn
Percussion: Jeremiah Beer
Electric Harp: Anna Pagnin
Violin I: Joey Lam
Violin II: Alma Zupan
Viola: Rachel Miller
Cello: Xiaodi Zhao
Double Bass: Sam Pugh
Artwork by by R. Kotulla (University of Wisconsin) & WIYN/NOAO/AURA/NSF, Licensed under CC BY 4.0
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