A Night Beneath the Stars – String Ensemble

For Sting Ensemble

Listen:

Program Notes

A Night Beneath the Stars was written during the warm months of summer, while I spent many nights taking strolls in fields, parks, and otherwise. Often times I would find a bench, rock, or just lay in the grass and star up at the stars. During one of these nights, a melody started to form in my head and I took it home immediately and expanded on it. Within 24 hours the piece was finished. My ambitions were to capture the sounds of the stars high above, and the reflections of the mind that they brought about. For this, I used the warm key of Ab, and a combination of warm chords and suspensions to bring my melody to life.

Performance Notes

Conductors: in both the beginning and the end I would like it more freely and not so metered. When the piece enters the “dark and gloomy” section in the middle, it needs to be a bit more strictly metered and contain an obvious and severe mood change. When the strings are entering the upper part of their ranges, especially towards the end, they should “float” to create a simple and beautiful effect. Nothing should ever stick out to harshly and should always be well blended.