Instrumentation:
Version 1 (LSO Soundhub) - concert harp / wire-strung harp / prepared lever harp (one performer), concert harp 2, percussion (vibraphone / crotales / toy piano), cello, piano, video and electronics (please note: the harpists, cellist and pianist also play crotales). Score available from the Contemporary Music Centre, video available from the composer.
Version 2 - concert hap / wire-strung harp / prepared lever harp (one performer), cello, piano, video and electronics.
Light echoes are astronomical phenomena observed from afar. A bright flash caused by an explosion such as a supernova appears to expand, gradually illuminating surrounding debris as light travels at finite speed. According to scientists’ estimates, 130 stars end their lives by going supernovae every second. Through these spectacular explosions, their fusion cores eject the building materials of life into the universe.
At a slower rate, one human language becomes extinct every 14 days, with half of the 6,500 languages spoken on Earth today projected to disappear by the end of the century.
Stars have served as navigational guides and timekeepers for millennia, inspiring exploration of the unknown. Language processing changes human brain structure, shaping ways in which we think. Just as our societies lose original languages and their collected wisdom through cultural homogenisation, we are also rapidly losing access to the night sky through light pollution and unregulated proliferation of artificial satellites. Both losses have profound implications for our wellbeing and ability to thrive as a species.
“Light Echoes” is the story of a dying star told in a critically endangered language of Breton. I would like to acknowledge astronomer Phil Plait for sparking the initial idea for this piece with 'Echoes of Light Illuminate the Cosmos', Scientific American, August 8, 2025. This project was developed through LSO Soundhub, generously supported by Susie Thomson with additional support from the Hinrichsen Foundation.
Music and concept: Xenia Pestova Bennett
Videos: Steven Lee
Breton translation and narration: Emrys van Seventer
Audio mastering: Brian Robinson
Performance photos and featured image: Kevin Leighton