''Mover of the Earth, Stopper of the Sun'' is a

concert overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

for large

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

that was commissioned by

Orchestre national d'Île-de-France The Orchestre national d'Île-de-France is a French symphony orchestra with its administrative base in Alfortville. The orchestra, made up of ninety-five permanent musicians, gives around a hundred concerts each season, thus offering Ile-de-France ...

(ONDIF) from composer

Svitlana Azarova Svitlana Azarova ( uk, Світлана Азарова; born 9 January 1976) is a Ukrainian-Dutch composer of contemporary classical music, originally from the Ukrainian SSR. Early years Svitlana Azarova was born on 9 January 1976, in Izmail, ...

. The composition is dedicated to Renaissance astronomer

Nicolaus Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic Church, Catholic cano ...

Performances

* World premiere January 23, 2013 at

Salle Pleyel The Salle Pleyel (, meaning "Pleyel Hall") is a concert hall in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, designed by acoustician Gustave Lyon together with architect Jacques Marcel Auburtin, who died in 1926, and the work was completed in 1927 by ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

* Dutch premiere March 1, 2014 at

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls i ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, conducted by

Marc Albrecht Marc Albrecht (born 1964) is a German conductor who lives in The Netherlands. He was chief conductor of the Dutch National Opera, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra from 2009 to 2020. Biography Born in ...

.Dutch premiere 1st of March 2014 at

, Amsterdam
Movers of the Earth
* September 17, 2015 at S. Lyudkevych Concert Hall,

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

, INSO-Lviv Youth Academic Symphony Orchestra, conductor Anna SkrylevaSeptember 17, 2015 at S. Lyudkevych Concert Hall,

-
United by Music
* Residentie orkest was, due to

COVID-19_pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, alas not able to perform Mover of the Earth, Stopper of the Sun for large orchestra 17th and 19th of April 2020
in the Zuiderstrandtheater, The Hague conducted by

Background

The name of this composition was taken from the

Nicolaus Copernicus Monument, Toruń The Nicolaus Copernicus Monument in the home town of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) was erected in 1853 by a "monument committee" of the city's residents. Original plans King Frederick the Great of Prussia (1712–1786) intended t ...

which bears a Latin inscription drawn up by Alexander von Humboldt: ''Nicolaus Copernicus Thorunensis, terrae motor, solis caelique stator'' - ''Nicolaus Copernicus of Thorun, mover of the earth, stopper of the sun and heavens'' In the score Azarova graphically and musically shows Copernicus’s

heliocentric Heliocentrism (also known as the Heliocentric model) is the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the center of the universe. Historically, heliocentrism was opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at ...

cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe.

Instrumentation

Piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

, 2

Flutes The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

, 2

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s, 2

Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s in B, 2

Bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

s, 4

Horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

in F, 2

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s in B, 2

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

s, Bass Trombone.

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...

Strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

Duration: ca. 5'

References

{{italic title Compositions by Svitlana Azarova 2011 compositions Concert overtures