Eclipse
I started writing Eclipse on the 11th of August 2009, the 10th anniversary of the solar eclipse over Britain. I experienced this event on a hill in my village in Cornwall, which was on the line of totality. Although only catching faint glimpses of the sun through the cloud, the overall feeling of excitement and wonder at the spectacle and the eerie, goose-pimple sensation of total darkness in the middle of the day is something that will stay with me forever.
Thinking back to this event I started to wonder how humans over the centuries have looked at eclipses. The text I chose to set for Soprano Voice shows the fear and dread many humans would have felt when seeing the most constant thing in their lives, the sun, getting masked by the moon in the middle of the day.
Text
Nothing can be surprising anymore, now that Zeus, father of the Olympians has made night out of noon day. And fear has come upon mankind. After this man can believe anything, expect anything. Don’t any of you be surprised in the future if land beasts change places with dolphins and go to live in their salty pastures.
Archilochus (c. 680 BC – c. 645 BC
Duration: C.13′30″
Audio Sample!
Instrumentation (with doublings) :
Flute (Alto Flute & Bass Flute)
Clarinet 1 in Bb (Eb Clarinet)
Clarinet 2 in Bb (Bass Clarinet)
Trumpet 1 in Bb (Tuned wine glass)
Trumpet 2 in Bb
Percussion 1 Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Tam-tam, Bass Drum, Marimba and Snare Drum.
Percussion 2 Suspended Cymbals x 4, Bass Drum, Tam-tam, Marimba, Glockenspiel.
Piano
Soprano Voice
Violin 1 & 2
Viola 1 & 2
Cello 1 & 2
Double Bass (with C extension)