Work
Relativity Quintet
Films, Audio & Samples
Buy or Borrow
Borrow/Hire:
To borrow items or hire parts please email SOUNZ directly at info@sounz.org.nz.
About
Relativity Quintet is about how technological advances can be, and are, used both to the benefit and the detriment of humankind. Specifically inspired by Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity, we hear the inspiration of creativity and discovery in the first movement, where his famous E=mc² features prominently in the first violin and the piano. In the following movements, pacifist Einstein warns that his theory may be used to build a bomb, which is ignored; the US does in fact build a nuclear bomb, dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki (represented in Mvt. IV). The final movement expresses cautious hope that humankind will learn from its past mistakes.
Dedication note
Dedicated to those who have suffered, rather than profited, from technological progress.
Contents note
Five movements: Mvt I - Inspiration, Perspiration; Mvt II - World War II Begins; Mvt III - Einstein Warns the US about the Atomic Bomb; Mvt IV - Hiroshima, Nagasaki; Mvt V - The Future?