Via Lactea
Instrumentation
• Flute (dbl Piccolo)
• Bb Clarinet (dbl Eb Clarinet)
• Alto saxophone
• Bassoon
• Bb Trumpet
• F horn
• Trombones
• Tuba
• Piano (dbl Celeste)
• 2 Percussion
• 2 Violins
• Viola
• Cello
• Contrabass
“Via lactea” was the original Latin term for our galaxy and the origin of the term “Milky Way.” Of course, when the galaxy was given this title it was unclear exactly what that band of light in the night sky was. This music touches upon many of my own feelings about the cosmos: quiet, personal, contemplative awe; wondrous, excited discovery; precise scientific calculations; the horror of our short-lived mortality; and my own hopeful (but often skeptical) belief in the triumph of the human spirit on this small speck of dust in the enormous, magnificent galaxy we call home.