Aphelion. "That point of a planet’s or comet’s orbit at which it is furthest from the sun"
(The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary).
This work uses material derived from a pattern of ever widening intervals, which diverge in contrary motion from a central note (C) to portray an elliptical orbit. This arrives at the point of the aphelion on F and G, which are the last notes to be reached in the interval series. In essence the work describes the concept of being far from a centre, of inestimable loneliness and passionate longing combined with moments of serenity and repose.
Aphelion was completed in January 2002 and given its premiere by Jennifer Pike and Max Ritchie in Cartmel, Cumbria. Soon afterwards she performed it in the BBC Young Musician of the Year string finals, broadcast on BBC Radio 3 as well as on BBC4 TV. It has also been broadcast on BBC Radio 3 from Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall in a performance by Jennifer Pike and Martin Roscoe.
