O R C H E S T R A L

HEAVENLY REFLECTIONS

2006

In Memoriam György Ligeti

For Symphony Orchestra

Commissioned by the Bulgarian National Radio

Part of: Symphonic Triptych No.1 (click here)

Completed: 16.12.2006

Duration: c.a. 10 min.

Studio Recording – 05.04.2007, Bulgarian National Radio Orchestra, Martin Georgiev cond.

 Listen to Audio Clip 1

 Listen to Audio Clip 2

Instrumentation:

2 Fl. (= 2 Fl. Picc.)

Alto Fl.

2 Ob.

C.A.

2 Cl. in Es (= 2 Cl. In A)

B.Cl.

2 Fg.

C.Fg.

2 Tr. in C

4 Hn. in F

2 Trb.

B.Trb

Tba

Percussion (5)

Crotales, Tubular Bells, (or Chirch Bell in G),

Gng., Tam-t., Glock., Mar., Vib., 5 Pieces of metal,

Harp

Celesta

Strings: 14,12,10,8,6

Programme Note

“Heavenly Reflections” is a contemplation over the Christian uderstanding of the war in heaven, led by Saint Archangel Michael and the heavenly forces against the fallen Lucifer and his blackened angels. It develops the philosophical core of the legend – a metaphor about the origin of the dark force from the highest form of light and purity and the resistance against this dark force. In its musical embodiment it is far away from the Romantic notion of programme story-telling, and is a musical reflection of the philosophic substance of the legend, exploring various ethical, psychological and social aspects of its meaning. Thus it presents a nucleus of thought, which can lead in many directions, without aiming at any particular conclusions. Hence the piece is developed as a single musical gesture, containing three musical spheres. Those spheres are utterly contrasting but meanwhile they originate from each other. Flowing without any interruption, they correspond to the idea that darkness originates from light and it is being dissolved in light. A musical inspiration for the first sphere is the Medieval Bulgarian-Orthodox Chanting tradition. Without direct quotations “The Eastern Singing” is the basis of 7 layered structure of polytempic, polymodal development based on modal clusters as its harmonic background and with apparent melodic connection with the Chant. The fact that the layers are 7 is also a symbol with celestial associations. The second sphere develops a reflection of the darkness, containing semantic links with dance music. It explores images which are not often understood in their genuine meaning in our everyday 21 century existence. The focal climactic point of the work contains an image with core importance to the Christianity, which can lead associations to Tuba Mirum, the Trumpets of the Apocalypse, the cry of Saint Archangel Michael, the trumpets of Jericho and other Biblical symbols, underlining the polysemantic meaning of the piece. The third sphere that follows this focal point states the restoration of the celestial harmony and explores a different aspect of the Medieval Bulgarian Chant in aleatoric context. The piece is homage to Ligeti - a great composer who aesthetically exerted an enormous influence upon my development as a composer, and sadly died exactly when I was working on this composition. I could not have reacted in any other way than to dedicate this piece in his memory.

Martin Georgiev