Sagittarius (2015) by Vera Ivanova
for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano

The Sagittarius was commissioned by the 2015 Soundways Festival in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is in essence variations on Karlheinz Stockhausen's Sagittarius from his Zodiac (Tierkreis, 12 short movements written originally for a music box set of 12 zodiac signs), an open-instrumentation work that can be played in any version by any ensemble or soloist. When I was asked to write a piece based on Sagittarius, I had an idea to use as a framework for its form and instrumentation the pattern of alternating meters found in the original piece (5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 4/4, 3/4, 1/4, 2/4, 8/4). This metric pattern is retained in each variation (except for the aleatoric one), and the instrumentation/density of chords in each variation matches the upper number of the meter. This work can be paired in performance with the original piece by Stockhausen, to show its direct connection.