Fragile Oasis
Peter Meechan
Ensemble: Wind Orchestra
Grade: 6
Duration: 14:30
Year of Composition: 2013
Commissioned by: Leyland Brass Band (Michael Bach, conductor)
Publisher: Peter Meechan
Year of Publication: 2017
Publisher Catalog Number: PMM110
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Publisher, Purchase
Links:
Piccolo
Flutes 1,2
Oboes 1,2 (1st doubles English Horn)
Bassoons 1,2
E♭ Clarinet
B♭ Clarinets 1,2,3,4
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2 (both doubling B♭ Soprano Sax)
B♭ Tenor Sax
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpets 1,2,3,4
F Horns 1,2,3,4
Trombones 1,2
Bass Trombone
Euphoniums 1,2
Tubas 1,2
Double Bass
Percussion 1 (Bass Drum, Bongos, Glockenspiel, Suspended Cymbal, Timpani, Tubular Bells)
Percussion 2 (Bass Drum, Bongos, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Suspended Cymbal, Vibraphone, Xylophone, Tam-tam)
Percussion 3 (Bass Drum, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Tubular Bells, Xylophone, Vibraphone)
Percussion 4 (Bongos, Drum Set, Suspended Cymbal)
Original version for brass band commissioned by the Leyland Brass Band and Michael Bach for their appearance at the 2013 European Brass Band Championships in Oslo, Norway, and partly funded by The John Golland Trust. Dedicated to Natalie Youson, in friendship.
Wind orchestra scoring was completed in 2014 and was commissioned by an international consortium of bands. Revised in 2017 with the editorial advice of Robert Ambrose.
In five sections:
I. The Lights from Above
II. The Storm from Above, Part 1
III. Freya
IV. The Storm from Above, Part 2
V. The Oasis from Above
Program Notes:
Fragile Oasis is the name of a collective who describe themselves as “…a grass-roots participatory initiative that connects the shared perspective of astronauts from different countries and cultures with people on Earth, encouraging all to work together so that our planet is not only visibly beautiful, but beautiful for all.” Many involved in the project are astronauts on the International Space Station (I.S.S.), who post, on their website (http://www.fragileoasis.org) many different details of their experiments, photos from space, and some incredible video footage of our Earth. One such time lapse video (a video made up of many still images) was posted on their website by astronaut Ron Garan in 2011. It is made up of images taken from the I.S.S. of what Garan described as “…a couple of laps around our Fragile Oasis before coming back down [to Earth],” and features all kinds of amazing views from space.
Each of the five sections of this work relate to an aspect of the video – either something literal or something more metaphorical. The opening section, "The Lights from Above", is a musical description of the view of the Aurora Australis from above the lights. The second section, "The Storm from Above, Part 1", is a musical portrayal of the many lightning storms we see from above in the video. The storms that are so powerful on Earth appear as small bolts of electricity dancing through the clouds. The third section, "Freya", has its roots in personal family tragedy. The name Freya derives from a Norse goddess who was associated with both beauty and love, and in this central section I wanted to write music that not only acknowledged how fragile life itself is, but that every day of it counts and should be celebrated. "The Storm from Above, Part 2" is again a reference to the lightning storms, but also to the huge hurricanes we see in the video. It leads us to the final section, "The Oasis from Above" – a description of the size and grandeur of Earth, our Fragile Oasis.
(Peter Meechan)
