Deirdre Gribbin

Celestial Pied Piper

Celestial Pied Piper is the final work in Oort Cycle; 'Following Oort' and 'Fanfare to the Standing Dead' are the other works in the trilogy. With the visible presence of Halle Bop, the comet, in 1991 the composer began investigating the Oort phenomenon. The comets in the Oort mass have their orbital motion increased and decreased by the gravitational influence of passing stars. An erratic gravitiational pull of a single star could alter the route of any particular comet causing it to plunge into the earth's atmosphere with devastating consequences. Comets derive from the Greek word coma, meaning 'hair'. Comet, long-haired, refers to the streaming fire tails of the comet. As it approaches the sun it becomes more self-luminous - gases and ultra violet light form the glowing ball of the comet's head. In Celestial Pied Piper (scored for clarinet and ten players), the clarinet soloist serves to warp the pattern of actual time. The other instruments are forced to move towards it like marbles rolling down a hill. The vibration of intense detailed dimensions manifests itself through the colours and technical demands on each individual instrument. There is gradual pull towards the inescapable activity and material of the soloist. Celestial Pied Piper was commissioned by Faber Music for its Millennium Series.
Instrumentation: solo cl - 1(=picc).0.1(=Ebcl+bcl).asax(=ssax).0 - 1000 - perc(2) - vln.vla.vlc.db