starferrysong

after Schubert’s ‘Lied eines Schiffers an die Dioskuren’ D. 360

For: String quartet
page one of starferrysong

Buy this score and parts

starferrysong

$9.60

$2.40

from $1.80

(+ VAT when applicable)

Preview individual parts:

PDF icon

Instant download

You are purchasing high quality sheet music PDF files suitable for printing or viewing on digital devices.
Composer
Year of composition
1997
Difficulty
Difficult (Grades 7+)
Duration
7 minutes
Genre
Classical music
License details
For anything not permitted by the above licence then you should contact the publisher first to obtain permission.

Programme note In Schubert’s song (a setting of Mayrhofer), a boatman sings to the stars for guidance on his journey. In my piece I have continued with the theme of the interrelation of earth and the heavens, drawing on alleged* correlations between the ancient Egyptian necropolis at Giza, and the plotted contemporary star charts. The Nile, for instance, was thought to mirror the Milky Way (known in ancient texts as the ‘Winding Waterway’), and the three Giza pyramids aligned with the Nile in exactly the same way that the three stars of Orion’s belt aligned with the Milky Way. At the time of important astral events, terrestrial re-enactments of these dramatic events would take place at Giza. The chosen participant (dressed as the god Horus) would be ceremonially ferried across the Nile (thus implying a much longer and more significant journey) to the Sphinx (which itself symbolised an astral ‘gateway’). Once at the Sphinx the Horus-voyager would journey down a tunnel aligned with the pyramids (leading in the heavenly mirror-image to the ancient sky-region known as the Duat, where he was able to be reunited with his father, Osiris) to his final resting place.

Virtually all the music derives from the Schubert original, although it is only quoted in full just before the close.

T.B.

  • Keepers of Genesis (R Bauval and G Hancock)

starferrysong was written at the request of Philip Sheppard. It was first performed by the Old Isleworth Festival Quartet (Alison Kelly, Miffy Hirsch, vlns; Nick Pendlebury, vla; Philip Sheppard, cello) on 24 June 1997 in All Saint’s Church, Old Isleworth, as part of the Old Isleworth Festival.

To purchase this score, please add it to your cart above. To purchase music not currently available on Score Exchange or for extended license requests, please contact the publisher directly.

Reviews of starferrysong

Sorry, there's no reviews of this score yet. Please .