ITSOTM | music

In the Shadow of the Moon (2012)

Space and space exploration has always been a great interest of mine. From a young age I was fascinated by the night sky, the stars, the moon and the idea of space exploration. As I grew older the politics behind the Space Race and the NASA

Apollo Space Programme in the Sixties became of greater interest and still to this day I find new interests in Space but now more about the emotions and changes the astronauts of these missions went through.

After watching David Sington’s In the Shadow of the Moon (2007) and reading Andrew Smith’s Moondust (2009), I began to explore the emotional and spiritual changes the men and women who have travelled to deep space have experienced. There are numerous accounts from the astronauts involved with the Apollo Space Programme that they experienced almost ‘spiritual’ moments and realisations. This has fascinated me as I myself have been wondering about my own beliefs in recent years.

My piece is an exploration of these emotional changes and moments of consciousness as it follows the journey of the men involved in the Apollo Space Programme through four continuous movements. The music is influenced by a number of composers including English late 19th and early 20th century composers Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan-Williams and also by more contemporary composers of Hollywood film scores; namely John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry and Thomas Newman.

As I was coming to the end of the process of composing this piece, I was sad to hear of the death of Neil Armstrong. Neil Armstrong was not just the first man to walk on the moon, therefore being an integral part of the background of my piece but also a hero and icon who I have respected very much from a young age, so I dedicate this piece to his life, his achievements and positive affect on the world.

'Tomorrow, we, the crew of Apollo 11, are privileged to represent the United States

in our first attempt to take man to another heavenly body' - Neil Armstrong

After a dramatic and powerful opening evoking the power and spectacle of take-off, the piece reduces to a tense horn call accompanied by the string section. The horn call develops and the orchestra in size with it until the trumpet calls alongside a nearly full orchestra in a patriotic statement. We then move into a march developing a new theme and evoking further ideas of patriotism and space flight. This section is influenced by the opening movement of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, ‘Mars’ and also by the film soundtracks of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith who were both heavily influenced by Holst’s work.

'I was able to look out the window to see this incredible sight of the whole circle of the Earth. Oceans were crystal blue, the land was brown, and the clouds and the snow were pure white. And that jewel of Earth was hung up in the blackness of space.'

- Charles Duke

The next movement opens with a very sparse texture evoking the loneliness and isolation of space but also the beauty it holds. This section is very influenced by the ‘Neptune’ movement of Gustav Holst’s The Planets in the use of woodwind and

female chorus.

III

'On the return trip home, gazing through two hundred and forty thousand miles of

space towards the stars and the planet from which I had come, I suddenly experienced

the universe as intelligent, loving, harmonious.' - Edgar D. Mitchell

'In my cockpit window, every two minutes: The Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the whole three-sixty degree panorama of the heavens... That was an overwhelming sense of oneness, of connectedness... And it was accompanied by an ecstasy... an insight, an epiphany.' - Edgar D. Mitchell

The third movement evokes the moment of realisation and awakening that the astronaut experiences. It has a very spiritual atmosphere which is evoked from the sustained, tender piano line. This section is influenced by the styles of Ralph Vaughan- Williams and Hollywood composer Thomas Newman.

'I now describe our universe a little differently; as evolutionary, intelligent, participatory and continuing to learn. What we call God is the mind of the universe, and what we experience as physical reality is the body of the universe.' - Edgar D. Mitchell

The fourth and final movement of the piece is a return to themes we have previously heard, however like the astronauts emotions, beliefs and views are developed and changed.

James Prideaux (September 2012)