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Musica Stellarum

Musica Stellarum is an original composition for full symphony orchestra. It seeks to evoke the life of a star from its birth in a gaseous nebula to its death as a massive supernova using musical parallels. The chemical processes involved in stellar nucleosynthesis are represented through an exploration of TC relationships. Lighter elements are represented by smaller pitch class sets and as they combine together through processes such as inversion and transposition, larger, "heavier" sets are created. Elements of Sonata Form and a strong structural emphasis on Golden Section (GS) relationships are also major features of Musica Stellarum. Section and phrase length are determined by GS measurements of time. This piece also uses delayed aggregate completion to build tension. Inspired by a theory by astrophysicist Dr. Adam Burrows, who argued that supernovae could be triggered by sound waves resonating at approximately F4, the F above middle C is used to complete the aggregate at the climax of the piece.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/596102
Date January 2016
CreatorsGillam, Robert Wesley
ContributorsAsia, Daniel, Asia, Daniel, Mugmon, Matthew, Walsh, Craig
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Electronic Dissertation
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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