Each movement of this piece takes its name and character from a different star. Altair, roughly translated from Arabic, means “the flying one.” Altair is a binary star, or a star that is actually comprised of two stars orbiting around one another, and this continuous circular motion is a pervading theme throughout the movement. Pleione is named after a small blue star and translates to “the sailing queen.” This movement is meant to evoke images of the slow swelling and receding of the ocean. Aldebaran is named for a giant red star, nearly 45 times larger than the sun and 425 times as bright. I tried to make the ideas of brightness and “bigness” the defining characteristics of this movement.
