Clouds and Constellations | Symphony Orchestra | Isabel Goodwin, 2019
Clouds and Constellations portrays the path of a bird flying through the sky on a stormy night. The piece begins with the harp, cellos, and basses laying the framework for the background, which continues for the entirety of the piece. A solo flute enters with a melody containing both duple and triple rhythms, setting up disjointed and tense emotions. The bassoons and English horn introduce the recurring theme, which was designed to highlight the darkness that is felt when passing under a storm cloud. A constant 16th note motor drives the music along, enhancing the sense of urgency and unrest that the audience may feel. Later, the woodwinds introduce the shifting parallel major and minor key centers, representing the stars shining through the clouds and then being blocked again as the bird continues to fly. Eventually, the brass instruments speed the piece up, resulting in a tumultuous section of chaos as the clouds become stormy and enraged. Finally, the piece ends by imitating the opening section up a 4th scale degree, showing the progress upwards that the piece has made. Clouds and Constellations was inspired by the works of Dmitri Shostakovitch, Sa Dingding, Kristen Anderson-Lopez/Robert Lopez, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. Clouds and Constellations has also been transcribed for wind band, and was read by the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony in spring of 2019.