Excerpt of a live performance. Andrew Jennings, violin; the University of Michigan Wind Ensemble with H. Robert Reynolds, conductor.
Other Worlds–
an homage to Carl Sagan
for Zeta electronic/MIDI violin and symphonic band
Duration: 15'
1998
Instrumentation: Zeta electronic/MIDI violin, 4 flutes (doubling piccolo) 2 oboes, 8 Bb clarinets (2 doubling Bb bass clarinet), 2 bassoons, 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, 4 horns, 4 trumpets. 4 trombones. 2 euphoniums. 2 tubas. 4 percussion. 1 piano/celesta
Carl Sagan challenged and inspired a generation to consider a universe not made for us, to look beyond our planet, and at the same time to recognize its fragility and preciousness. He played a leading role in space exploration, planetary science, the study of the origins of life and the hunt for radio signals from extra-terrestrial civilizations. I attended a series of lectures by Sagan at Cornell University in the early 70s and have been a fan ever since. In "Other Worlds," I have tried to paint in sound a vista such as might be seen by the shores of the nitrogen lakes of Triton, freshly covered with methane snow and irradiated into the material of life.
To order a score and parts contact Terra Non Firma Press