Latest Version - November 30, 2024
Erhu
Zheng
Glockenspiel, Temple Blocks, Suspended Cymbal (Soft Mallets, Regular Mallets)
Artists - John MacLachlan (composer)
Movements - N/A
Duration - 6'00"
Difficulty - High
Composition Opportunity - Sonic Boom Festival of New Music 2025
The concept of a “solar flare” formed the basis for this piece. Solar flares are electromagnetic bursts on the sun. In 1859, a large solar flare called the Carrington Event caused a variety of bizarre effects: the auroras were visible near the equator, and telegraphs sparked or, in at least one case, kept working without external power. A variety of techniques in this piece try to evoke a solar flare. The opening depicts the surface of the sun before a flare. Gradually, the piece builds out from the opening pitch, C, entering a mode that is transposed and varied throughout the piece. The 16th-note descending theme, with a semitone and an augmented third, depicts electromagnetic radiation coming off of the sun. When this theme returns, descending chromatically, it evokes the aurora borealis, seen in tropical areas during the 1859 solar flare. Finally, the glockenspiel line in measures 89 to 90 represents telegraphs malfunctioning. At the end of this piece, as the glockenspiel restates the telegraph theme, the A-flat in the mode resolves to an A-natural, forming a pentatonic scale.
Group - Orchid Ensemble
Performers - Lan Tung, Dailin Hsieh, Jonathan Bernard
Festival/Concert - Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra Spring Concert Series 2025 Academy Showcase One
Venue - The Annex, 823 Seymour St., Vancouver, B.C.
Date - June 6, 2025