This 6-minute virtuoso piece for trombone and piano was inspired by a celestial phenomenon in 2024. In mid-October, the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet crossed the twilight sky, passing at its closest distance of 70.6 million km from Earth. This comet, which returns roughly every 80 years, revealed itself in its full beauty on this occasion. The composer also tried to catch a glimpse of it—indeed, to capture one of those rare moments in a photograph. Yet neither from the Visegrád Hills nor from Szentendre Island did he succeed. His frustration only grew when one of his neighbors in Dunabogdány showed him a mobile phone snapshot on which the comet, with its long tail, appeared magnificently clear.
The composer then began to study in detail the appearances of various comets, and more generally how their differently sized tails are formed. As with the aurora borealis, the cloud of dust and gas surrounding a comet (containing particles of ice and rock) becomes visible thanks to the solar wind.
Yet such a comet is beautiful and attractive only when viewed from Earth. Were we inside that immense, sunlit cloud hurtling through space at tremendous speed—where the temperature, depending on the distance from the comet’s nucleus, may range between +30 and –70 °C, but can rise above 100 °C on the sunward side—we would see it quite differently.
This piece seeks to offer a glimpse into that “world” unreachable to humankind.
The work is dedicated to András Fejér, who premiered the composition.
First performance: Budapest, SZFEK, 27 November 2024
(András Fejér - trombone, Henrik Szőcs - piano)
Duration: 6 minutes
There also exists a version for tuba and piano, dedicated to Roland Szentpáli.
