Paul Greally: The Slow Moon Climbs
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Commission by Upper Junior Winner of ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Young Composer 2018
In 2018, Paul was selected from hundreds of entrants as one of the winners in the Upper Junior category of the annual ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Young Composer Competition. As part of his prize he received a ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ commission to write a new piece to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASAβs Apollo 11 Moon landing.
The Slow Moon Climbs was recorded by the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Singers and conducted by Anna Lapwood at ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Maida Vale Studios in June 2019.
The brief to write a piece for the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Singers celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing was intriguing as it gave me a chance to explore the political controversy surrounding the Apollo programme, focusing on how racial minorities in particular suffered under prejudiced government policies as money was spent on space exploration. To highlight this conflict, I used a verse from Gil Scott-Heronβs performance poem βWhitey on the Moonβ set against whispered excerpts from the Apollo 11 Spacecraft Commentary, with most of the piece set to extracts from Tennysonβs βUlyssesβ, a poem about mankindβs never-ending quest for knowledge and adventure β βto strive, to seek, to find, and not to yieldβ. Fundamental to the piece is the use of a four-note motif consisting of the first, ninth, sixth and ninth degrees of the scale, spelling out β1969β, the year of the moon landing.
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