Lost for Now

MUS258 Board Game Music

Too High

Galaxias: MW M31 M33 is a joint interdisciplinary project I've been working on for the University of California, Riverside's Physics and Astronomy Department. 

Press: https://youtu.be/blWgesIR-Bs

MW M31 M33 (MIDI)

Galaxias: MW M31 M33 is a quartet for clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. The inspiration for the price was drawn from the collision of the Milky Way, Andromeda, and Triangulum galaxies three galaxies in approximately four billion years. 
Using the mathematical equations for force and acceleration which act upon each galaxy leading up to the collision, three tone rows were created and used as musical material. 
The first movement opens with the three tone rows set harmonically in the clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. The rows are played without factoring in rhythm at first, and then played in canon halfway through the piece, followed by being played independently in the piano. 
The second movement represents the chaotic collision between the galaxies. Again, the rows were used as musical and thematic material. 
The final movement is meant to capture the beauty of the vast wonders of space. The opening motif in the piano is reminiscent of Debussy’s Nuages, two chords that plane back and forth providing a harmonic basis for the composition. The middle of the third movement features a melody that is presented in its original, inverted, and retrograde position, as well as sequenced from another position of the scale. 


R. Straka