On a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam

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on!a!mote!of!dust!suspended!in!a!sunbeam! for!chamber!ensemble!

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Jordan!Nobles!

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North!Vancouver,!August!2012!

on!a!mote!of!dust!suspended!in!a!sunbeam! for!chamber!ensemble!

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About!the!Piece! on#a#mote#of#dust#suspended#in#a#sunbeam#was!commissioned!by!!

The!Ethos!Collective!and!premiered!by!them!on!September!15,!2012.! !

PROGRAMME!NOTE! The! title! of! this! work! is! part! of! a! quote! by! Carl! Sagan! in! his! 1994! book! Pale! Blue! Dot! upon! regarding! the! final! photograph!from!the!Voyager#1!spacecraft,!which,!leaving!the!solar!system!and!becoming!the!farthest!man!made! object!from!Earth!(about!6!billion!kilometres),!turned!its!camera!toward!Earth!one!final!time!and!captured!it!as!a! tiny!blue!speck!in!the!empty!vastness!of!space.!!

Carl!Sagan’s!full!quote!is!"From#this#distant#vantage#point,#the#Earth#might#not#seem#of#any#particular#interest.#But#for# us,# it's# different.# Consider# again# that# dot.# That's# here.# That's# home.# That's# us.# On# it# everyone# you# love,# everyone# you# know,#everyone#you#ever#heard#of,#every#human#being#who#ever#was,#lived#out#their#lives.#The#aggregate#of#our#joy#and# suffering,# thousands# of# confident# religions,# ideologies,# and# economic# doctrines,# every# hunter# and# forager,# every# hero# and# coward,# every# creator# and# destroyer# of# civilization,# every# king# and# peasant,# every# young# couple# in# love,# every# mother# and# father,# hopeful# child,# inventor# and# explorer,# every# teacher# of# morals,# every# corrupt# politician,# every# "superstar,"#every#"supreme#leader,"#every#saint#and#sinner#in#the#history#of#our#species#lived#there#–#on#a#mote#of#dust# suspended#in#a#sunbeam."! !

PERFORMANCE!NOTES! !

• One!player!(vibraphone,!piano,!or!marimba)!plays!the!main!pulse!continuously!and!keeps!time!for!the!ensemble.!!

• The! main! pulse! of! the! work! is! a! slowly! decellerating! and! descending! quarter! note! pulse! which! starts! at! F4!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(F!above!middle!C)!at!120!beats!per!minute.!!

• Every!30!seconds!or!so,!ON!CUE,!the!pitch!is!lowered!a!semitone!and!the!pulse!slows!approximately!5!beats!per! minute.! It! lowers! to! E4! at! 115! BPM;! then! D#4! at! 110! BPM;! all! the! way! down! to! F3! at! 60! BPM.! Once! at! F3! the! accompanying!musicians!drop!out!one!by!one!and!the!pulse!fades!out.!!

For!example:!

• The!tempi!need!not!be!exact!as!long!as!the!piece!slows!appreciably!from!beginning!to!end.!

• The!pulse!should!begin!and!end!the!piece.!

• While!the!pulse!happens!all!musicians!perform!their!various!given!melodic!cells!in!any!order!in!time!with!the!main! pulse.!

• EXCEPT!only!play!the!cells!on!the!Page!1!during!the!F4!pulse!and!the!cells!on!the!Page!2!during!the!E4!pulse,!etc.!

Musicians!return!to!Page!1!at!the!C#!pulse,!and!continue!in!that!fashion!throughout.!The!final!F3!should!be!once! again!on!the!Page!1!cells.!

• What!cells!to!play,!and!when!to!play!them,!should!be!decided!by!each!musician!independently!as!long!as!they!are! responsive! to! the! other! players.! A! good! rule! is! to! stop! after! completing! a! cell! and! listen! for! a! moment! before! joining! in! again.! Musicians! in! smaller! ensembles! can! play! more! often! but! in! larger! ensembles! should! play! less! often!to!give!space!throughout!the!performance.!

• The!duration!of!the!piece!is!approx.!6!1/2!minutes!long!but!the!exact!tempo!of!the!pulse!and!the!exact!duration! of!each!interval!descending!semitone!need!not!be!exact.! on#a#mote#of#a#dust#suspended#in#a#sunbeam#©!Jordan!Nobles,!North!Vancouver,!August!2012!!www.jordannobles.com!