Sheet Music: Score
but the sky is surely open : for symphony orchestra / Paul Nicolaou.
by Paul Nicolaou (2022)
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- Instrumentation: 2 Flutes (piccolo), 2 oboes (cor anglais), 2 clarinets in B flat, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 2 trumpets in B flat, 2 trombones, tuba, timpani, 3 percussion (1. vibraphone, crotales, wood block, tubular bells, clash cymbal 2. crotales, suspended cymba 3. bass drum, triangle, tam-tam, glockenspiel), harp, piano, strings.
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Product details
"Meanwhile Daedalus, hating Crete, and his long exile, and filled with a desire to stand on his native soil, was imprisoned by the waves. 'He may thwart our escape by land or sea' he said, 'but the sky is surely open to us: we will go that way: Minos rules everything but he does not rule the heavens."
- Excerpt from Ovid's Metamorphoses tr. Anthony S. Kline
Paul Nicolaou's 'but the sky is surely open' follows the journey of a boy named Icarus, son of Daedalus, in Ancient Greece. After obtaining the ability to fly, Icarus finds a sense of freedom in escaping the boundaries of the Earth. He becomes infatuated with this new sensation: defying the limits of man.
Fragments of the score are marked with quotes directly extracted from Ovid's Metamorphoses. These include, 'but the sky is surely open', 'Let me warn you, Icarus', 'the boy began to delight in his daring flight', and 'drawn by desire for the heavens, soared higher'.
Throughout the piece, the music explores both moments of playfulness and meditation.
Just as Icarus begins bound to the earth, the ensemble opens with a weighted introduction marked 'With gravity'. This precedes a dynamic ascent towards a moment of unease, foreshadowing what's to come. A flurry of excitement and anticipation marks the ensemble beginning their flight through the sky, before a stern warning from Icarus' father personified by a solo cello. Leading to the final moments of the work, both the ensemble and Icarus ascend into the heavens, soaring higher and higher in register and increasing in intensity. This builds to a staggering halt. All momentum is suddenly lost-the boy has flown too close to the sun. The concert hall is filled with the ensemble's decaying resonance as Icarus falls.
Originally composed in 2022 for the tutors of the Australian Youth Orchestra's National Music Camp, the work was orchestrated for the Sydney Youth Orchestras' 2026 International Tour.
Published by: Australian Music Centre — 1 facsimile score (38p. -- A3 (portrait))
Duration: 9 mins
Typeset edition.
This edition produced 2026.
ISMN: 979-0-67317-301-9
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