And the Sun Stood Still
for Orchestra
Duration: 8”30’
Commissioned and premiered by the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Bramwell Tovey at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London in December, 2018. Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
This piece is inspired by the winter solstice and the primal, prehistoric resonance that it holds. Images of bleached, mid-winter landscapes; crystal shafts of frozen light and an intense, bright, burning sun low on the horizon. The energy within shafts of frozen light is depicted alongside the intense darkness invoking the ancient belief that the winter solstice was a day when dangerous spirits walked the earth. Seeing the sun at its lowest point in the sky made people fear that its strength would never return.
But ultimately the winter solstice brings a feeling of hope and renewal.