Beyond the daily mist of our minds

“We know a few things which were once hidden, and being known they seem easy; but there are the flashings of the Northern Lights; there is the conical zodiacal beam seen so beautifully in the early evenings of spring and the early mornings of autumn; there are the startling comets, whose use is all unknown; there are the brightening and flickering variable stars, whose cause is all unknown; and the meteoric showers—and for all of these the reasons are as clear as for the succession of day and night; they lie just beyond the daily mist of our minds, but our eyes have not yet pierced through it.”

- Maria Mitchell (1818-1889)

Program note

I composed Beyond the daily mist of our minds during the summer of 2018. I sought to write a piece that celebrates knowledge and discovery, and I chose to set a brief passage from the diary of Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer. Dated December 26, 1854, the entry reflects on the wonders that have already been discovered and how much more there is to explore and learn in our universe.

Commissioned and premiered in 2018 by conductor Jeff Douma and Yale Glee Club.