20
January 2004
For
immediate use
'Star
Chant' Sky Voyage - Sydney 22 January
Take
a composer, an astronomer and an astrophotographer, send them through
the
outback, and the result is a unique musical and visual experience of
the sky.
This
work, ‘Star Chant’, the fourth symphony of Australian composer Ross
Edwards,
will have its first Sydney performances on 22 and 23 January at the
Sydney
Opera House as part of the Festival of Sydney.
The
text of this choral symphony, by astronomer Fred Watson of the
Anglo-Australian
Observatory, is a series of star names, both Western and Aboriginal.
The
Western names, Watson observes, are Arabic, Greek, Latin and even
Persian.
These multiple aliases remind us that the sky is the common heritage of
all
human cultures.
The
chant begins with the northernmost stars visible from Australia and
treks south
through the sky, finishing at the faint and lonely southern pole star.
The
aural journey is accompanied by animated images from astrophotographer
David
Malin, formerly of the Anglo-Australian Observatory. “The pictures
reflect the
music: the beauty, the symmetry and the patterns,” says Malin.
The
work was triggered in 2000 when Watson, Malin and Edwards were visiting
communities in outback Queensland and New South Wales. They were
presenting a
work called “Starry Starry Night”, in which Watson and Malin’s
commentary on
the sky was interspersed with Edward’s music.
“I
found the most memorable experience to be the night spent in a swag in
the
Simpson Desert contemplating the glittering display above,” Edwards has
written. “How could egos that prance absurdly in the daylight fail to
be awed
and humbled by the magnificence of the stars – if it were not for the
light
pollution of our cities?”
Even
seen with the eye alone, the outback sky forcefully impresses on us the
presence of the stars, in a way that city-dwellers never experience.
But
Malin’s photography goes beyond this, capturing glories that the
unaided eye
cannot. The colours of the stars and the nebulae that surround them, so
meaningful to astronomers, can be recorded only with photography or
electronic
[CCD] detectors. Much of Malin’s life’s work has been dedicated to
capturing
those colours accurately. His images, Edwards has written, “present us
with an
embryonic mythology awaiting interpretation”.
Malin
and Watson found working on ‘Star Chant’ a rewarding experience. “I was
humbled
and awed,” says Watson, even while joking that he had the easiest task
of all.
Says Malin: “It’s really
about sharing the beauty
of the night sky that only photography can capture.”
‘Star
Chant’ was commissioned jointly by Symphony Australia and the Adelaide
Festival. It premiered at the Adelaide Festival in 2002.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
‘Star
Chant’ is part of ‘Ephemera’, a program presented by the Sydney Festival in association with Sydney Opera
House
Trust
Venue: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
Time
and dates: Thursday 22 and Friday 23 January at 8 pm
Conductor: Antonino
Fogliani
Performers: vocal ensembles Gondwana Voices, Sydney Children’s
Choir and Cantillation, and the Sydney Symphony
CONTACT INFORMATION
Fred Watson, Anglo-Australian
Observatory (Coonabarabran)
Contact via Helen Sim
Mob: 0419 635 905
Office tel: 02 9372 4251
Email: hsim@aao.gov.au
David
Malin
02-
9997-1914 (home), 0414-913-231 (mob.)
david@davidmalin.com
Ross
Edwards
02-9518-4843
(home)
ross@rossedwards.com
_____________________________________
Helen Sim - Public Relations and Media Liaison
Anglo-Australian Observatory
PO Box 296
Australia
hsim@aaoepp.aao.gov.au
tel: +61 2 9372 4251 (bh), 0419-635-905 (mob)
fax: +61 2 9372 4444
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