Star Crossing (1999)
for flute, clarinet, percussion and piano

Duration: 8'15"
Instrumentation: flute (doubling piccolo and alto flute), B-flat clarinet (doubling B-flat bass clarinet), percussion (vibraphone [with working motor] and orchestra bells) and piano
Written for the Society for New Music as a result of winning the Brian Israel Prize.

Winner of the 2001 Tampa Bay Composers Forum First Prize for Excellence in Chamber Music Composition

Premiere: Society for New Music, May Memorial Church, Syracuse, NY, November 14, 1999.
Publisher: Robert Paterson Music (ASCAP)

Audio Excerpt [MP3] | Score Excerpt [PDF] | Purchase Music

Image taken with the Hubble Space Telescope


Program Notes

Although I will probably never have an opportunity to travel through outer space, I often look up at the stars with wonderment, marveling at the vastness of the night sky, wishing I could have that experience. This work is my attempt to impart the sensation of what I think it might feel like to travel through the galaxy, and to give the feeling, through sound, of staring up at the star-filled sky on a quiet, clear night.

– Robert Paterson