for marimba and fixed media
Composer: Jonah Elrod
Year of Composition: 2016
Instrumentation: marimba and fixed media
Type of Electronics: Fixed
Number of Channels: 2
Duration: 09:30
Video Component: None
Urban Sky Glow explores how missing star light returns to our lives as we reduce city lights. The piece acts as an interpretation of the levels of the starlight magnitude of one particular area of the night sky. The marimba musically represents the stars that are visible in the different magnitudes. As we move through the levels of magnitude, city light is reduced, more stars are revealed, and previously visible stars become brighter. The fixed media creates both a contrasting artificial light as well as extensions of the marimba’s starlight. As we travel through the magnitudes we also engage in two Dreams which are variations on the starlight materials.