with a sense of unending, empty time
PDF | Midi mp3

This number has only been performed once for a live audience — and not with the Famous Orchestra, but with the Lake Zurich Middle School North Orchestra under the direction of Mr. Riley Broach.

The song is in the vein of an early-1970s pop confection in cut time, along the lines of “Make Me Smile” by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, with a little bit of Robyn Hitchcock vocal phrasing thrown in, all in the service of a deceptively optimistic take-down of Einstein’s theory of time.

For reference, here’s the demo track I made for LZORK to be able to listen to prior to me showing up in person for our Compose In Residence sessions that year.

I haven’t been able to track down a full live recording of the LZORK Orchestra playing it, either in rehearsal or for the concert, though Riley Broach typically did make recordings of these (so maybe it will turn up someday). But in lieu of that, here’s the midi-rendering of the full score that I created (which you can view here in PDF form).

NOTE ON IMPACT OF TIME SYSTEMS
The length of another day (on Earth) =

• Synodic – 24 hours mean length, but with about 51 seconds difference between the longest and shortest days
• Solar – the difference between two successive occasions when the Sun is at its zenith: as long as 24 hours 30 seconds in late December, and as short as 23 hours 59 minutes 38 seconds in mid-September
• Civil – 24 hours
• Sidereal – approximately 86164.0905 seconds (23 h 56 min 4.0905 s or 23.9344696 h)
• Nychthemeron – all of the above