Birth of a Star

This was written for a collaboration project between the masters students at my conservatoire and some postgraduate astronomy students from another uni, each of whom was working on their own project. Each composer chose an astronomer, to write a piece in some sort of response to the astronomer's research. We had a given instrumentation, which was essentially wind quintet + string trio + electric guitar, and we were free to write for any combination. I decided to just write a wind quintet, since I like writing for winds. I think the rest of the composers all wrote for the full ensemble.

My partner's project was to do with how stellar clusters form and grow. Specifically, he was trying to modify an existing simulation to add in another factor (some sort of gas) which has not previously been considered in the growth of stars, just to see if it actually does make a difference. The inspiration I took from this was to do with the general growth of stars (rather than his specific project, which was kind of uninspiring musically). I had the idea to create a piece which starts relatively chaotic, and gradually becomes simpler and calmer while still in some way retaining its initial character. The way I tried to do this was to have one single motif represent the star, and have it present throughout, becoming slower every now and then. This is meant to represent the star forming out of a flurry of gases, and becoming larger, slower, and more predictable over time.

It's probably the most 'dissonant' of my pieces so far, which made it very difficult to work on, as my usual musical instincts weren't always present. I'm quite proud of myself for pushing through it though - I think allowing myself more dissonance has really allowed me to experiment more, and I'm happy with the resulting piece.

The score isn't quite 'final' yet, I've still got to get some feedback from my tutor before I tidy it up and send it off.

@stewboy

I clapped my hands when it was over.

I'm sure that the project's maker would like it as well.

You keep it interesting, and although it's dissonant (to me) it doesn't sound bad at all.

I love it!

The main theme is great and it can be recognised very well, which is a key thing in this composition.
You use it all the time, but it does not irritate or bore me at all.
You take the listener on a musical journey.

Well done!
 

Thank you guys! I think I'm getting pretty good at taking a short idea and making the most of it.