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About Light
It goes through walls, but slows to a standstill in ultra-cold gases. It carries electronic information for radios and TVs, but destroys genetic information in cells. It bends around buildings and squeezes through pinholes, but ricochets off tiny electrons. Although we know it primarily as the opposite of darkness, most of light is not visible to our eyes. From low energy radio waves to high energy gamma rays, light zips around us, bounces off us, and sometimes goes through us. Because it is so many things, defining light is a bit of a philosophical quandary.
Throughout human history, light has been something most of mankind has taken for granted. It is there throughout our lives, and (so we assume) will always be there in the familiar patterns we experienced as we grew up. Phenomena such as solar eclipses have been cause for great fear because they represent a break in that familiar pattern, cutting off the light from the sun, and who could be sure if the sun would ever come back? Even for those who understand the phenomenon, a solar eclipse is still an occasion for excitement and awe.
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 Illuminations Composer John King John King has been composing since 1987, but only in the last couple years has he chosen to focus exclusively on writing and producing music. As owner of Metta Audio, he is busy writing for a wide variety of projects. His music compositions range from film scores to tuba/euphonium quartets to works for indoor percussion and marching band. In 2006, John was one of the top 5 finalists in the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers Competition in Hollywood, CA, an international composition competition for up and coming film composers.
Although relatively new to the marching band scene, John has already had his original compositions performed by over a dozen bands in 14 different states. Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. - Chinese Proverb All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.
- Saint Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) Clever people master life; the wise illuminate it and create fresh difficulties.
- Emil Nolde Keep your eyes to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
- Helen Keller (1880-1968) |
About Illuminations The original version of Illuminations was written by John King in the fall of 2009 for indoor percussion ensembles and was later adapted as a field show. Mr. King was inspired by light as the spouse of a professional photographer and as a part-time photographer himself. "Every piece is a unique process for me and Illuminations is no exception. In this case, I wrote the opening melody first, which served as the inspiration for the whole show." Illuminations consists of three parts: Tree Shadows – Much of this music was written before the actual theme was conceived. "The image of light dancing through the moving arms of a tree is such a strong image however, full of sound and motion, that it just felt right. Then we had our ice storm in December and Betsy shot an image that seemed to capture the essence of the piece." Aurora Borealis – King wrote this based on the indoor show, but due to the original orchestration and the additional length needed, it wasn't workable. So the ballad was written specifically for marching band. "I had already settled on the Aurora Borealis theme and let the images of rippling waves of light inspire me. The entire movement is based on a circle of major chords that I really felt captured the vibrant and evolving nature of the northern lights." Urban Dawn – King says, "I actually have a commute across the northern leg of I85 in Atlanta in mind for this. It also ended up quite different from the indoor piece, particularly the ending, with which he struggled." The main melody of the closer was actually a minor section in the original percussion piece, but when it was decided to create a marching band version, he focused on that element more. |
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2009 Show - Illuminations |