Orchestra Piece "Sagittarius A*"
Miguelangel Garcia
Published
The Concept:
Over a couple of years, I composed this piece based on the concept of being dragged by a black hole, specifically Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. I wanted to capture the experience of first seeing that massive concentration of mass from afar and then being slowly, inexorably pulled toward it.
Thinking about the enormous space involved, I imagined the feeling of profound loneliness and the uncertainty of not knowing what would happen next (which would, most likely, be death). Who would come to mind at that moment? I answered that in the music: loved ones would likely be the people who fill those final thoughts.
Musical Structure and Performance
The composition is built on a combination of free timelines that are collected together to create a dense texture, all of which is controlled by the conductor. There is freedom in the way the musicians play, but a different director might evoke a completely different effect.
The music develops into a beautiful and big moment and then fades down to an almost waltz as it enters the “space” where the laws of physics get weird. The music follows the same path, becoming increasingly strange until the very end, where not even light can escape. The last photon is the final note, as the concertmaster fades out.
Listen to it here:
And here some samples: