The Wheel of the Sky

This composition explores my interest in using meditation-like techniques (in this case, pondering of the night sky) in order to open up a fertile “inner-space” of creativity from which to compose music. This recording is a sketch from my score writing software, rather than the live version. The lyrics are below. The flute holds the vocal melody. (music by WJ Kington 2009. The image is from the Nassa Images site. )
Wheel of the Sky.mp3

I like to ponder the night sky, and allow its unimaginable vastness to engulf my mind, leaving it in a state of awestruck emptiness.

“Wheel of the Sky” begins with the experience of being absorbed into the night sky, as if afloat within eternity. Then the observer and Universe merge until there is a sense of emptiness; after which the Universe returns in a blaze of light. The lyrics gently question the dominant paradigm that the observer and Universe are separate. A person who has experienced a completely still mind, perhaps as a result of meditation, could relate that all sense of separation and time disappears. It is only when thoughts emerge again that there seems to be a distinction between one thing and another, the self, the Universe, and the emergence of time. Then the question is, which reality is the most primal, the one that is prior to thought, or the one resulting from thought? In the song, the Priestess of Nullest Night represents the vast emptiness that has no distinctions and is utterly still, while the Theorist of the Stars represents the active part of the Universe which could be said to emerge when thought becomes active.

Instrumentally, I was excited by the possibilities offered by the ensemble of bassoon, piano and violin. The bassoon seems to hint at the eeriness and emptiness of space; the violin at its sweep and grandeur; whilst the piano acts to bind it together with a subtle harmonic language.

The piece is organised around three themes. Theme A is relaxed and uses gentle harmonic colours, alternating between instrumental and vocal sections and gradually develops. Theme B provides for a contrast, is more angular and has less development. Theme C provides a respite and a bridge between the other themes, as well as an ending point. Each theme has its own melodic motifs shared among the instruments, and a distinct harmonic character. The vocal part has a more defined melody, quite apart from the instruments. Structurally the piece proceeds AAAABBBCAAAABBBBC.

a.
Instrumental

b.
The day, when I sailed the night,
reposed upon a wheel,
of stellar light.

c.
Instrumental

d.
The dust, and the basins of the sea,
they hold the ends of time,
eternally.

e.
The dark, and the depth of stars,
have swallowed up my mind,
and swept away the universe.

f.
And the dweller in the dark,
fills with the dust and shine,
that circled once the absent sky.

g.
The priestess of nullest night,
births in a blaze of light,
brings forth a churning wheel of fire.

h.
Bridge

i.
Instrumental

j.
The dawn, and the air has paled the stars,
while the earth has turned,
in stellar march.

k.
Instrumental

l.
The egret, and the flocks that roam the sky,
they take no heed of time,
in grace they fly.

m.
Instrumental

n.
The dark, and a host of stars,
have taken up my mind,
and swept it through the universe.

o.
And the dreamer in the dark,
drank of the dust and shine,
that circled once the wheel of sky.

p.
And the theorists who turned the stars,
reigns with the spell of time,
and wields a wheel of stellar fire.

q.
end passage.