The Solitude of Stars
VIDEO
Fourth Coast Ensemble
DURATION
5'
INSTRUMENTATION
SATB vocal quartet
POET (none)
Wordless vocalise
COMMISSIONER
Utah Arts Festival (original sextet version)
YEAR COMPOSED
2020
ORDERING SCORES
Theodore Presser Company
https://www.presser.com/111-40337-the-solitude-of-stars.html
To purchase a digital license for choral groups:
https://www.presser.com/111-40337-the-solitude-of-stars.html?conf=111-40337D-PDF
PROGRAM NOTES
In 2014, I enjoyed a wonderful residence at the Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming. Ucross is an artist colony that gives writers, composers, and visual artists the gift of time, space, and support to follow their artistic pursuits; we are provided with studio space, housing, and meals so that we can work continuously on our projects. I have been in residence at numerous artist colonies; however, nothing in my previous experiences prepared me for living in such isolated, wild country. Ucross is situated on a 20,000-acre cattle ranch at nearly 4,000 feet in elevation with fewer than 150 people living within the town. But what Clearmont lacks in population, it makes up for abundantly and spectacularly in wilderness and wildlife. I composed the sextet Postcards from Wyoming to offer three glimpses of what I found to be the most striking aspects of my residence. The Solitude of Stars, the third and final movement of the original sextet, was inspired by the stunning nightly display of the heavens above. Without city lights dimming the night sky, countless stars shone brightly over the vast expanse of the prairie.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, I undertook The Solitude of Stars Project, which contains multiple duo and trio arrangements that I made for colleagues and friends.
-S.G.