Origin Story
for orchestra (2019)
Our origin story has been told in many versions over millennia and continues to be told, with new threads being added to its vast tapestry even today. The movements of this piece draw inspiration from the richness and interconnectedness of our story, as well as our common fate.
II. The Veil
8000 years ago, a star twenty times as massive as the Sun exploded high over our ancestors’ heads. At present, the rapidly expanding shockwave from this supernova covers an area of the sky approximately thirty times larger than the full moon. It can be seen overhead with a medium-sized telescope throughout summer and fall and is referred to by observers as the Veil Nebula. The calcium in our bones, the iron in our blood, and the sodium that allows our nerve cells to function is thought to have been forged in the type of event that created the Veil. The formation of the chemical elements is a more recent strand that has been woven into our origin story, yet one that reaches back billions of years to reveal its secrets.