J. Aaron Stanley, Composer
Moon Dances, Op. 19 for Symphony Orchestra
Moon Dances, Op. 19 for Symphony Orchestra
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Moon Dances, Op. 19 for Symphony Orchestra
- Instrumentation: 3.2.3.3, 4.3.3.1, T+3, Pno., Strings
- Opus 19, 2020, rev. 2021
- Duration: c. 6.5m
Moon Dances is a dance between wondrous mystery and quixotic playfulness, represented by music that suggests an endless abyss and music that I like to refer to as "space jazz."
Most of my compositions begin with a fairly clear concept in mind even before I start composing. Moon Dances, on the other hand, suggested itself as I was experimenting with a scale I had become fascinated with after discovering it in Nicholas Slonimsky's Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. It consists of alternating minor third and minor second intervals that, repeated 3 times, brings us back to the octave, like this:
As I was exploring its possibilities, I discovered a number of intriguing polychords that I felt were suggestive of deep space. At the same time, the melodic intervals sounded quite jazzy to me, having a number of years experience in performing early jazz. Ordinarily, those would be two completely different concepts and musical directions.
But during the COVID-19 shutdowns of Spring 2020, I allowed my imagination to journey through space to alien moons covered in ice over a hidden liquid ocean... or to volcanic moons in fast orbits... or to airless pock-marked moons, scarred by eons-old meteor strikes. I imagined what it must be like to dance among these moons, playfully bouncing in the low gravity like the astronauts of the Apollo missions, forgetting for a moment the immense danger they faced being there.
Thus Moon Dances was born. Both possibilities—the mysterious and the playful jazziness—could be explored in the same piece! While I was at it, I couldn't help but include a hat-tip and nod to John William's Cantina Band from Star Wars, which you'll hear after the first big climax.
In addition to the “space-y” harmonies derived from the above scale, I also sought “other-worldly” sounds to incorporate in the percussion section, which is as equal in importance to the entire rest of the orchestra in conveying the wonder and mystery of alien moonscapes. I wonder what other pieces will suggest themselves as I flip through Slonimky's Thesaurus?
––J. Aaron Stanley, April 2021
*Some percussion effects are not reproduced accurately in the demo. It's a work in progress.
