THE CONSTELLATIONS

(Visit Angelee's main music page, Horns of Elfland. Or visit our home page, Sangreal.)

	THE CONSTELLATIONS Musical Pieces by Angelee Sailer Anderson and Others
Orion, the Hunter

This project, conceived by my husband Stan, involves the composition of an instrumental piece for each of the 88 constellations. (Since a piano has 88 keys, the humorous notion of having one key represent each constellation has already been suggested by several people.) Undoubtedly, the project was inspired by one of our favourite musical works, Gustav Holst's The Planets.

The variety among the constellations has the potential to inspire a wide variety of musical "commentary" on them. Unfortunately for the completion prospects of our project, 88 pieces will take a lot of composing.

So far, seven pieces of this huge compilation have been completed. Three have been written exclusively by myself, two by a musician friend, Steve Timmerman, one was co-written by Steve and myself, and one was co-written by Stan and me. These are:

Orion

This is my (and a lot of other people's) favourite constellation. I consider Orion my "lover in the sky" because of a story Stan once told me about him (see the description of my future novel, The Bands of Orion, on my Ashes to Easter page). This piece was composed by me, and features church bells, strings, a wind ensemble, "Hackbrett," and percussion, in a majestic minor key hymn to the Belted One.

The Southern Crown

This piece, exclusively by me, relies heavily on tuned percussion sounds used in counterpoint, and has a hypnotic, "antipodean" flavour to it.

The Northern Crown

This piece is one of the few in which I have used an electronic sound, in this case electric guitar. Martial in mood, the piece also features organ, violin, horns, "orchestral crash," timpani and cymbal rolls.

The Raven

This piece, reminiscent of Irish folk melody, was conceived by Steve Timmerman and completed by myself. Violin, musette, and tin flute dominate it.

The Bird of Paradise

This is a very short but lovely Japanese-influenced piece for koto by Steve Timmerman.

The Chemical Furnace

A short piece with amusing percussive sound effects by Steve, this is perfectly descriptive of its subject.

Berenice's Hair

This was originally a guitar solo by Stan, which he said reminded him of me. He asked me to arrange it for him, and it now contains two guitar parts, flute, glockenspiel, and violin, as well as a new melody in its midsection. It is rather impressionistic (I had Debussy in mind when I arranged it).

What follows is a complete list of the 88 constellations which we hope to have immortalized in music one day.

Andromeda -- (princess of Ethiopia)
Antlia -- the air pump
Apus -- the bird of paradise
Aquarius -- the water bearer
Aquila -- the eagle
Ara -- the altar
Aries -- the ram
Auriga -- the charioteer
Boötes -- the herdsman
Caelum -- the chisel
Camelopardalis -- the giraffe
Cancer -- the crab
Canes Venatici -- the hunting dogs
Canis Major -- the great dog
Canis Minor -- the little dog
Capricornus -- the sea goat
Carina -- the keel
Cassiopeia -- (queen of Ethiopia)
Centaurus -- the centaur
Cepheus -- (king of Ethiopia)
Cetus -- the sea monster
Chamaeleon
Circinus -- the drawing compass
Columba -- the dove
Coma Berenices -- Berenice's hair
Corona Australis -- the southern crown
Corona Borealis -- the northern crown
Corvus -- the raven
Crater -- the cup
Crux -- the southern cross
Cygnus -- the swan (also known as the northern cross)
Delphinus -- the dolphin
Dorado -- the gilded fish
Draco -- the dragon
Equuleus -- the little horse
Eridanus -- the river Eridanus
Fornax -- the chemical furnace
Gemini -- the twins
Grus -- the crane
Hercules -- (half-mortal son of Jupiter)
Horologium -- the clock
Hydra -- the sea serpent
Hydrus -- the water snake
Indus -- the Indian
Lacerta -- the lizard
Leo -- the lion
Leo Minor -- the little lion
Lepus -- the hare
Libra -- the scales
Lupus -- the wolf
Lynx
Lyra --- the lyre
Mensa -- the table
Microscopium -- the microscope
Monoceros -- the unicorn
Musca -- the fly
Norma -- the square
Octans -- the octant
Ophiuchus -- the serpent bearer
Orion -- (the hunter, loved by Artemis, goddess of the Moon)
Pavo -- the peacock
Pegasus -- the winged horse
Perseus -- (saviour and husband of Andromeda)
Phoenix
Pictor -- the painter
Pisces -- the fishes
Piscis Austrinus -- the southern fish
Puppis -- the stern
Pyxis -- the compass
Reticulum -- the net
Sagitta -- the arrow
Sagittarius -- the archer
Scorpius -- the scorpion
Sculptor -- the sculptor
Scutum -- the shield
Serpens -- the serpent
Sextans -- the sextant
Taurus -- the bull
Telescopium -- the telescope
Triangulum -- the triangle
Triangulum Australe -- the southern triangle
Tucana -- the toucan
Ursa Major -- the great bear
Ursa Minor -- the little bear
Vela -- the sail
Virgo -- the virgin
Volans -- the flying fish
Vulpecula -- the fox