KOCMOC (Cosmos) - Score Only Full Orchestra - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1897935

In 1997, a delegation of Professors from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory of Saint Petersburg, including composer Vladislav Uspensky, visited the Music Department of "Colegio Santa María Marianistas" in Lima, Peru, to give master classes. Uspensky, a former student of Arapov and Shostakovich, was renowned in Russia.

As a member of the Music Department's Orchestra, I had the opportunity to take composition lessons with Uspensky. Under his guidance, I composed a short symphonic movement titled "Kocmoc" (cosmos in Russian). This symphonic poem was inspired by a starry sky I witnessed at a local beach south of Lima.

Those master classes with Uspensky—and a few more in 1998 at Saint Petersburg—profoundly impacted me. Although the time was short, I gained self-confidence and a glimpse of the possibility of becoming a music composer.

I later learned that Uspensky passed away in 2004. Saddened by the news, I decided to write a work in his memory. Initially, I considered reworking the 1997 composition but realized it wasn't suitable. Instead, I chose to write a new piece based on the same material and structure, including a choir with a text in Russian.

I found the perfect text in Fyodor Tyutchev's poem "Urania," named after the Greek muse of astronomy. This excerpt from the poem perfectly encapsulates the night in 1997 that inspired "Kocmoc":

The boundless sea lies at my feet,
And in the blue light of the peaceful waves
The sky is ablaze with shining stars,
As faces of gods in a pure heart;
As the quiet thrill of expectation;
All around is sacred silence.

This score is the result of transforming and varying the same musical ideas from 1997 and is dedicated to Professor Uspensky's memory.