The Stars Now Rearrange Themselves

SATB divisi, soprano solo | Duration c. 5'

Coming soon from GIA Publications

The Stars Now Rearrange Themselves was composed as a part of the Scattered Light commission consortium in collaboration with American poet Dana Gioia and fellow composer Sarah Rimkus. The work translates Gioia’s muted imagery and symbolism into an otherworldly, dream-like musical atmosphere saturated with harmonic ambiguity. The image of “a missing ring” is musically interpreted as deliberately placed negative space in each voice of the choir. When these moments of individual silence last for one full measure or longer, those bars have been stricken from the score entirely, leaving a void in the physical representation of the music. While these voids are in themselves invisible to the audience, the chorus member sees a portion of their own part having been riven from the whole. This should have a subtle but important effect on the mood in which this piece is performed, underscoring Gioia’s portrayal of something we know to be missing, unseen or inscrutable.