Light Echoes – Percussion Matt Gold, Piano Doris Stevenson

Program notes:

In January 2002, a dull star in an obscure constellation suddenly became more luminous than our Sun, temporarily making it the brightest star in our galaxy. The star, called V838 Monocerotis, has long since faded back to obscurity. NASA’s Space Telescope observed a phenomenon called a “light echo” around the star. It is light from a stellar explosion echoing off dust surrounding the star. V838 Monocerotis produced enough energy in a brief flash to illuminate surrounding dust. The star presumably ejected the illuminated dust shells in previous outbursts. Light from the latest outburst travels to the dust and then is reflected to Earth. Because of this indirect path, the light arrives at Earth months after light from the star that traveled directly toward Earth.

I was inspired by these events called “light echoes” during the process of creation of my composition. I attempted to create a poetic interpretation of these events in our sound world. The several outbursts that illuminate the dust surrounding the star are reflected poetically in the structure of my work, taking advantage of our use of time in the music process. My interpretation of these outbursts are also reflected in the choice of instrumental color and pitch combinations of the sounds that form part of the different sections, inspired by the contrast of light and darkness produced by these events.