download score

To view the best representative section, start the video at 7:30

[...]
Struck by the sight
I cried and cried again in my delight:
"They have a ball in heaven, every night!"
There shone in that enchanted radiance
an ancient secret I could clearly sense:
the stars go home at dawn, along immense
bright boulevards of skyborne continents.
[...]

- from ‘Hajnali részegség’ (‘Dawnstruck’) by Kosztolányi Dezső; translated by Peter Zollman


This piece is based upon the Hungarian folksong ‘A hajnali csillag ragyog’ (The morning star shines). We imagine this piece to be a reflection of the possible contrasts between the often brutal forces of nature, and humans’ perceptions of these forces. Stars are essentially massive fireballs careening through space, fusion reactions churning inside them, holding the power to destroy planets and warp space-time upon their demise... and yet, in our perception they are beautiful, delicate lights that decorate the sky, bringing us a sense of tranquility and wonder.
Our piece shows this dichotomy, reflecting how our senses can contrast with reality, and how humans tend to categorize the events of the universe to fit into the emotional frameworks and meanings they perceive internally, sometimes allowing them to find beauty and respite in things as strange, violent and distant as the stars.