Europa
for Euphonium and Electronics
Duration: 9:00
Program Notes
Space, and particularly the worlds in our cosmic backyard, have always captivated me since I was little. Despite most of them being completely uninhabitable, I still loved looking at and reading about all the terrains and colors and textures one would find on these diverse planets and moons. Europa is a moon of Jupiter’s that, for decades, has captured the imaginations of many scientists, who speculate that underneath its icy surface could lie a potentially life-harboring ocean. When my friend Travis Kutz approached me to write him a piece for solo euphonium and electronics, this world immediately came to mind and got my imagination running, too.
I had been listening to a lot of electronic/ambient music, and particularly Dark Jovian by Amon Tobin, an EP inspired by space exploration films with most tracks also named after Jupiter and its moons (which certainly cemented my own choice of subject matter). I loved how so much of this style of music was texturally- and color-driven, as well as how patient its pacing was. Combined with a melodically-driven euphonium part, the resultant sounds on Europa intend to evoke what one might see and feel on the icy Galilean moon: an overwhelming sense of vastness and scale, a charm in its jewel-like icy terrain, and a great beauty in its (unconfirmed but speculated) underground, potentially life-filled ocean.
(2019)