Solar Eclipse Bruce W. Tippette

Band
Number of Players:Standard
Copyright:2015
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
B-flat Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
Baritone T.C.
Tuba
Piano

Timpani
Mallet Percussion (bells, xylophone, chimes, vibraphone)
Percussion 1 (snare drum, bass drum)
Percussion 2 (suspended cymbal, crash cymbals, congas, tambourine)
During the summers of 2012, 2013 and 2014, I was hired to compose new works in an experimental collaboration with Cirque du Soleil and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, funded by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts. This experience became known as the Cirkus Theatre Project. Solar Eclipse is a reimagining of a work written for one of the vignettes performed during this project. The original piece, titled Nisshoku (Japanese: solar eclipse), was written for piano, electric guitar, and soprano and tenor voices. Nisshoku, along with two other original works during the 2013-2014 school year, was documented as part of a video series shown on UNC-TV in January 2015.

When I began to rework the piece, I used similar melodic elements from the original, but the entire scope and form of the piece were altered, hence the new title. Solar Eclipse opens with a slow and soft introduction, presenting the melodic material that is present throughout the piece. A raucous percussion interlude transitions the piece into a faster tempo, along with more complex rhythmic material. The piece progresses through a series of different altered forms of the melody, along with moments of countermelodies. As the piece nears the climactic moment, an accelerando helps to push the music into a Grand Pause, exemplifying the moment in which the moon completely eclipses the sun. The conclusion of this process in nature is reflected by the piece's ending as it slowly fades into nothing.