Instrument List

pic 333 bcl 3cbsn 4341 5perc harp strings

Performances

Premiere: Contemporary Youth Orchestra, Liza Grossman, Music Director, Waetjen Auditorium, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio, December 11, 2010

Program Note

This work was commissioned By Liza Grossman and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra. The object known as ARP 87 consists of two galaxies (NGC 3080A and NGC 3808B) connected by a cosmic bridge of stars, gas and dust. It is located 300 million light years from Earth in the constellation Leo. This object was first catalogued in the Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies by Halton Arp in 1966 at the California Institute of Technology, but its true nature was only revealed when the Hubble Space Telescope was able to capture an image of it. In the photograph we see two immense star systems which appear to have passed close to each other and so experienced tides induced by mutual gravity. The face on galaxy (A) has many young blue star clusters while the twisted edge on galaxy (B) is wrapped in the bridging material, and surrounded by a curious polar ring. The image struck a chord in me and when the opportunity came along to write for the CYO, I decided to attempt a portrait of this famous photograph in music.