II: 1916, Die Grundlage der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie (General Relativity)

Refuting Newton’s earlier assumption that time and space are fixed and immovable, Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity states that in fact time and space are relative to our own position and velocity. Einstein later expanded his theory into special relativity, including gravity, which works by actually bending space and time. Musically, I approach this theory by envisioning space as harmonic and time as rhythmic or metrical, and each of the four groups of instruments inhabits their own harmonic and metrical world. Over the course of the movement, the groups bend the music played by other members of the ensemble, forcing them to gravitate towards different rhythmic and harmonic spaces.