SKU:
Ríos de aire
Ríos de aire
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About
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✱ Available on June 1, 2026 ✱ (The exclusivity period for the commissioning consortium expires at this time.) Vincent van Gogh’s story is often framed by struggle—his lack of recognition, his illness, and the myths that surround his life. Yet, beyond the shadows, Vincent lived with a luminous heart: he gave generously to those in need, loved with intensity, and uncovered beauty in the ordinary. Though he endured what many now believe was temporal lobe epilepsy, his greatest gift was his vision—teaching us to see the world with fresh eyes, alive with light and wonder. In Vincent’s Sky, I explore van Gogh’s emotional world through the lens of three of his paintings, guided by Whitman’s words. I used a musical cryptogram, assigning pitches to letters, to spell words that would inform the musical content. For example, “VINCENT” is spelled with the notes A, B, G, C, E, G, F.
 I. Olive Trees This painting pulsates with yellow rays emanating from the sun over a field of olive trees. Vincent associated yellow with happiness, and Whitman’s text for this movement celebrates color and light.  II. Wheatfield with Crows While this movement opens with a soaring admiration for the beauty of the earth, Vincent’s thoughts are soon overtaken by hallucinations, ghostly voices, and chaos. The dark, stormy sky and presence of crows (a symbol of death) foreshadow difficulties ahead. Vincent wrote in his letters about having hallucinations of the Horla during his psychotic episodes. The Horla, a story written by Guy de Maupassant in 1886, depicts the possession of the main character by a supernatural being after he waved to a “superb three-mast ship,” and how this being gradually takes over his mind.  III. The Starry Night Vincent’s most iconic painting of the night sky is adapted from the view from his bedroom window at the Saint-Paul Asylum in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence where he admitted himself after a severe mental health crisis. Vincent’s fight against the “silent shadows” of his inner world come to life in the beauty of this night scene, in which the sky swirls with color and the stars shimmer with light. Whitman’s words bring us the hopeful twinkling of the stars in the face of life’s darkness. Suggested Programming: Proud Music of the Storm A Silence Haunts Me Vincent's Sky Full Resolution Images of the Paintings: |
| Instrumentation |
Players are one-on-a-part: Flute 1, 2, & 3 (Fl. 1 doubles piccolo) Oboe 1 & 2 Bassoon 1 & 2 Bb Clarinet 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 Bass Clarinet Alto Saxophone 1 & 2 Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Bb Trumpet 1, 2, & 3 F Horn 1, 2, 3, 4 Trombone 1 & 2 Bass Trombone Euphonium Tuba Double Bass SATB Choir Harp (optional) Piano Percussion (7 Players): Timpani, Crotales, Gloskenspiel, Vibraphone, Marimba, Triangle (3 small), Mark Tree, Clash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbals (small and reg.), Tam-Tam, Low Tom, Bass Drum (concert and marching/kick drum). |
| Duration | 16:00 |
| Year Completed | 2025 |
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Consortium:
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| Text |
Vincent's Sky Adapted from letters of Vincent van Gogh and poetry of Walt Whitman. (Whitman texts in regular font, van Gogh in italics.) I. Olive Trees Shine! Shot gold, maroon and violet, dazzling silver, emerald, fawn, Prepare my lengthening shadows,
The whole of nature is so indescribably beautiful. My life is under attack at the very root. Il me semble absurde que les hommes veuillent paraitre autre chose que ce qu’ils sont. Un soleil dans la tete et un orage dans le coeur. Wild, wild the storm, and the sea high running,
I hear you whispering there, O stars of heaven. Up through the darkness, the ravening clouds shall not long be victorious. The stars are immortal, they shall shine out again. They will endure. And over all, the sky—the sky! far out of reach, breaking out, the eternal stars. My lengthening shadows…my starry nights. |
| Donations | A portion of the proceeds from this work will be donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. |
