Cosmosis

wind ensemble, soprano solo and treble chorus (22')

Premiere: February 25, 2005, Carnegie Hall, NYC
Susan Botti - soprano soloist, The University of Michigan Symphony Band Michael Haithcock, conductor
Women of the University of Michigan Chamber Choir Jerry Blackstone, Director

PROGRAM NOTE:

Cosmosis was created for the talented and inspirational music students at the University of Michigan to tap their boundless imaginations.

Overboard
The First Night
Interlude
The Second Night

Texts: “Overboard” and “The Cross Spider” (May Swenson)

The American poet, May Swenson wrote “The Cross Spider” in response to the news of a Skylab experiment in which a student project proposed to see whether a spider could spin a web in space. A common cross spider (araneus diadematus), named Arabella, is mythically portrayed by Swenson. Her shape poem, “Overboard” (a play of gravity) serves as a prelude.

In Cosmosis, “Overboard” plays with musical equivalents of gravitational force following the shapes laid out in the poem, before entering the gravitation-free sea of space. Here, Arabella succeeds in her quest on “The First Night”. A musical interlude follows, reflecting on the vastness of space as well as the heroic undertaking. In “The Second Night”, Arabella succeeds again...but is sacrificed in the process... ”experiment frittered”. Yet the resonant energy of the mission still spins in the air, like the soundwaves in space that echo throughout the cosmos, becoming a part of it, and inspiring others.

Cosmosis was commissioned by a consortium organized by Michael Haithcock, Director of Bands at the University of Michigan and including the additional participants: Baylor University (Kevin Sedatole), Florida State University (Patrick Dunnigan), Michigan State University (John Whitwell), University of Texas-Austin (Jerry Junkin).

Read a Chorus member’s account of performing in Cosmosis here

Instrumentation:
FL1, FL 2 (dbl Piccolo)
OBOE, ENG.HN
CLAR. in A, BASS CLAR
SOPRANO SAXOPHONE (soloist in last movement)
BSN, CONTRABSN
2 HORNS in F, 3 TPTS in C
2 TBN, BASS TBN, TUBA
3 PERCUSSION:
1) drums (i.e. Chinese toms), cymbals, lg. frame drum (w/ jingles),
slapstick, shaker, tam
2) drums, cymbals, woodblock, slapstick, cabasa/shaker, saw,
crotale (high C), bow
3) vibraphone, glockenspiel, bow
TIMPANI (also small metal plate suspended)
HARP
2 CONTRABASS
SOPRANO SOLO
TREBLE CHORUS (20-60)

poetry of May Swenson used with permission of the Literary Estate of May Swenson