Evan Zegiel Event Horizon
for trombone, cimbasso, and fixed media (heavy metal band)
PERUSALSCORE
PERUSALSCORE
Evan Zegiel
Event Horizon
for trombone, cimbasso (or bass trombone or tuba), and fixed media (heavy metal band)
Program Note
Event Horizon is a musical imagining of humans crossing the event horizon of a black hole, and what might be on the other side of it.
e introduction is dominated by mysterious, otherworldly clean guitars and angular bass guitar lines, with a steady underlying groove in the drums. e solo parts weave in and out of this texture, representing the brave explorers preparing for their first (and likely, only) journey into a black hole. A few chime-like tones are heard in the guitars –the countdown to takeoff – and the full power of the metal band enters with heavy power chords as the ship lis off.
Soon aer an abrupt cutoff, the guitars begin a punishing riff inspired equally by classic thrash (Metallica, Megadeth) and modern progressive metal (Gojira, Between the Buried and Me). is riff indicates the igniting of the ship's secondary engines, propelling it even faster toward its destination. As the black hole gets closer and closer, the music cycles through more riffs of increasing angularity and rhythmic uncertainty.
A massive breakdown in the style of 90's hardcore bands and modern metalcore (August Burns Red, Knocked Loose) signifies the closest we've come to the event horizon, and the point of no return is finally passed. e exploration begins: a synth-led section with electronic drums leads into a djent-inspired riff (Periphery, Tesseract), carrying us to a brief reprise of the introductory material as the explorers reflect on the home they can never return to. Another aggressive breakdown returns us to the alien world beyond the event horizon, where the explorers realize that they must now find a new home in another dimension of space-time.
A gentle, nostalgic acoustic guitar enters as the explorers land on a suitable world to colonize, one far behind Earth in its evolutionary process. is new world becomes the next frontier for humankind: the selement of a new dimension of the universe.
Instrumentation
Trombone
Cimbasso (or bass trombone or tuba)
Heavy Metal Band* (Rhythm Guitar, Electric Bass, Clean Guitar, Lead Guitar, Drums)
— Evan Zegiel 2022
*A backing track covering the heavy metal band parts is available from the publisher; the work is typically performed in a trombone, cimbasso, and tape configuration.
Duration: 18 minutes
PERUSALSCORE
e composition of Event Horizon was made possible by a consortium, including: Douglas Black, Todd Cranson and Amy Laursen Jeremy Crawford, Leanne Hanson, Jason Hausback, William Mann, Jesse Orth, David Saltzman, John Tranter, Bill Waterman, Mary Watson, & Tom Yan
Copyright © 2021 Evan Zegiel (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Published by Just a eory Press | www.justatheorypress.com First printing of this edition, May 2023
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