Poul Ruders - Serenade on the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean, 4th mov

Owen Murray, accordion, and Waves Ensemble play Poul Ruders - Serenade on the Shores of the Cosmic Ocean, 4th mov 'Backbone of the Night'
The title of this piece is taken from the late astronomer and educator Carl Sagan's book COSMOS (1980). Sagan was a great voice in the pursuit of knowledge and reason, an invaluable force in the struggle against ignorance and superstition. His vast historical knowledge and sensitive ear for the poetic also allowed him to adorn his various texts with short quotations from original folklore through history, quotations which I have used as mental and spiritual appetizers, heading some of the movements in this piece.
SERENADE also reaches out to other inspirational sources, such as William Shakespeare, Joseph Conrad and British science-writer John Gribbin, another great educator and popularizer.
The Darwin quotation heading the second movement was also found in Sagan's book COSMOS (it is originally from Charles Darwin: ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES) and so was the quotation about "The Backbone of the Night"
The Ku-Fu-quotation can be found in Sagan's last great book THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD (1995)
Poul Ruders
The work is in 9 movements, duration 40 minutes.
1. Introduction: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean. ".. .we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability." T. H. Huxley, 1887
2. One Voice in the Cosmic Fugue. "Probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some primordial form into which life was first breathed." Ch. Darwin, Origin of Species, 1859
3. Floating on the Wind. "The moon leaps in the Great River's current... floating on the Wind, what do I resemble?" Du Fu, Travelling at Night. China - Tang Dynasty, 765
4. The Backbone of the Night. (Kung Bushmen, Kalahari Desert, Botswana: their name for the Milky Way.
5. Stardust "we are, as I like to say, star stuff Carl Sagan, "The Most Precious Thing", The Demon - Haunted World, 1995
6. Threnos. " Beauty, truth and rarity, Grace in all simplicity, Here enclosed in Cinders lie." W. Shakespeare, The Pheonix and the Turtle, 1601
7. Dream Catcher. A Dream Catcher traps bad dreams and lets the good dreams filter down to the sleeper. Native American Lore.
8. Heart of Darkness. Joseph Conrad, 1902
9. Finale. "Blinded by the Light" John Gribbin, The Secret Life of the Sun, 1991