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Instrumentation

 

Flute 1 - 2

Piccolo / Flute 3
Oboe 1 - 2

English Horn

Bassoon 1 - 2

Clarinet in E♭

Principal Clarinets in B♭

Clarinet in B♭ 1 - 3

Bass Clarinet in B♭ 

Bassoon 1 - 2

Alto Saxophone 1 - 2
Tenor Saxophone 1 - 2

Baritone Saxophone 

Trumpet in B♭ 1 - 4

Flugelhorn
Horn in F 1 - 4

Trombone 1 - 2

Bass Trombone

Euphonium 1 - 2

Tuba

Timpani

Percussion 1 -  4

 

Program notes

 

Cosmogony (singular of cosmogonies) is a word that comes from the Greek, Kosmogonia, and is composed of Kosmos (world) and Gonia (generation). Its most widespread meaning explains that cosmogony is the set of mythical accounts relating to the origin of the universe. However, it is also accepted to define cosmogony as the set of scientific theories dealing with the origin and evolution of the world.

This composition aims to be an allegory of the origin and functioning of our planet within the universe under the prism of the second definition mentioned in the previous paragraph, avoiding any reference to stories, deities or mythological beings. For this, the conceptual basis of the piece is based on two philosophical concepts born in the Ancient Age and that influenced the most important thinkers of the following 2,000 years, practically up to our days: the sublunar world or sublunar sphere and the harmony of the spheres. This duality is the reason why the title of the piece is written in plural and not in singular.

On the one hand, in the ancient geocentric theory, the sublunar world or sublunar sphere was the region of the cosmos that was situated below the Moon. This concept was introduced by Aristotle in his book "De Caelo", distinguishing in the sensible reality two regions or worlds: the sublunar or terrestrial and the supralunar or celestial. The sublunar world was composed of the four elements (earth, water, air and fire) of Empedocles. But unlike Empedocles, Aristotle considered that these elements could be transformed into one another, thus explaining generation and corruption. On the other hand, the supralunar world was composed only of a fifth element called ether. This fifth element could not be transformed into the other four, nor altered in any way, being ungenerated and incorruptible. This division of the universe into two regions, a lower one subject to change and a higher one immutable, would become a basic doctrine of medieval philosophy and cosmology.

On the other hand, the harmony of the spheres is an ancient theory of Pythagorean origin, based on the idea that the universe is governed, according to harmonious numerical proportions and that the movement of the celestial bodies according to the geocentric representation of the universe (the Sun, the Moon and the planets), is governed according to musical proportions; the distances between planets would correspond, according to this theory, to musical intervals.  This theory, beyond Classical Greece, continued to influence great thinkers and humanists even until the end of the Renaissance. To this period belongs Johannes Kepler, German philosopher, who in 1619 wrote the book Harmonices Mundi. In it, Kepler expounded his theory that each planet produces a musical tone during its motion of revolution around the Sun and that the frequency of the tone varies with the angular velocity of the planets measured with respect to the Sun. Some planets produce constant musical notes, for example the Earth varies only one semitone with a ratio of 16:15 or, equivalently, to the difference between an E and an F note between its aphelion (point farthest from the Sun in the orbit of a planet in the solar system) and its perihelion (point in the orbit of a planet closest to the Sun).

Cosmogonies by J. V. Franco Landete (Spain)

$115.00Price
  • Composer

    José Vicente Franco Landete is a tuba player and composer. He graduated from Hochschule für Musik Franz Lisz von Weimar and currently performs with the Simfovents Palma BMMP (Majorca).

     

    As a composer, he has received numerous awards from IV Composition Contest "Josep Maria Lleixà Subirats" organized by FCSM (Spain), International Composition Contest for Wind Band organized by Harmonie d'Eybens-Poisat (France) and IX International Composition Contest "SBALZ" organized by Spanish Brass (Spain).

  • Duration

    11:40

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