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A CELESTIAL TRIPTYCH Commissioned by CARSTEN SLOSTAD |
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ABOUT THE COMPOSITION A Celestial Triptych, a three-movement suite for solo piano, was commissioned in 2006 by Carsten Slostad and inspired by “Space Odyssey,” a series of three large space landscape paintings by Kendall Bohn. It was composed for premiere at a piano recital and art exhibition at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, on October 1, 2006. The movements are titled "Shadows of Ancient Stone," "Ringworld" and "Reflections at Nightfall." The sheet music for A Celestial Triptych is included in the sheet music collection A Celestial Triptych and other piano music by Carl Schroeder, released in September 2026. |
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Carl Schroeder (b. 1982) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composes music for concert band, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and solo piano that often draws inspiration from American history, current events, natural surroundings and memories. His large ensemble music has been performed by nearly 50 concert bands, orchestras and choirs, including the Air Force Band of Mid-America, Minnesota Youth Symphonies and Ukraine’s Chamber Choir Kyiv. He has written commissioned works for the City of Lakes Community Band, Cornell University Symphonic Band, Minnesota State Band, Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Southwest Wind Ensemble, Three Rivers Conference Honor Band, Valley Winds, Wells Fargo Chorus and other ensembles and individuals. His published compositions include the concert band work Spin, the choral work Two December Carols and the piano solo 88 Keys, and six CDs of his music have been released. He is also the author of two books in the Fenn and Zorro series of novels told through correspondence. A 2005 graduate of St. Olaf College, he studied composition primarily with Timothy Mahr and Peter Hamlin. He composed A Celestial Triptych in the summer of 2006. ABOUT THE ARTIST Kendall Bohn is a Minneapolis-based multimedia artist. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 1989 from North Dakota State University, and has apprenticed as a sculptor in New York City. Although he enjoys sculpting in a variety of mediums, his focus has also turned to painting in both oil and acrylic. His Kaleidoscopia line of fine art coloring books can be found at Amazon.com and in several bookstores and galleries across the country, and his works can be found in the permanent collections of several institutions, including Yale University. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MORE ON A CELESTIAL TRIPTYCH A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER A Celestial Triptych was composed for premiere at a solo piano recital and art exhibition on October 1, 2006, at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, featuring my original music and Minnesota-based artist Kendall Bohn's paintings. The three movements are inspired by Kendall's series of three Space Odyssey paintings, which depict a planet and its two moons, each painting showing a view from a different angle of the planet and moons. Accordingly, each movement of A Celestial Triptych depicts one of those three celestial bodies. It is based on octatonic scales: each movement uses a different set of eight pitches, chosen so that no single pitch is used in all three movements. Following is text describing each painting, and the basic plot of each movement. I. Shadows of Ancient Stone – Thousands of light years from Earth, shadows fall on a lonely gray moon. The landscape is covered with craters and stone formations. A brilliant blue-green planet and its spectral rings light the sky as a second, orange-hued moon comes slowly into view. II. Ringworld – Moving closer to the planet’s rings, we see that they are made of millions of tiny sunlit particles. On the world’s surface, grass and leafless trees are the only signs of life. We soar over a vast mountain range toward the two moons lingering above the horizon. III. Reflections at Nightfall – Darkness falls on the second moon. Through wisps of clouds, the planet casts its reflection on a mysterious lake. Ripples cross the lake’s surface and a brief volcanic eruption interrupts the calm. We journey outward into space, leaving behind the moon and its celestial companions. – Carl Schroeder, October 2006
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