On Cassiopeia’s Throne

for chamber orchestra
performed October 31, 2021 by the Cleveland Chamber Symphony

On Cassiopeia’s Throne is an exploration of constellations. For this piece, I gathered three main themes from three constellations: Cassiopeia, Perseus, and Andromeda. I overlaid the constellations onto sheet music and used the points of the connecting stars to create the three main themes. In Greek Mythology, their stories are all interconnected. Cassiopeia, Queen of ancient Ethiopia, claimed her daughter, Andromeda, was more beautiful than the Nereids, the nymphs of the sea. The sea-god, Poseidon, grew angry and commanded Andromeda be chained to an ocean rock to become prey for the sea-monster Cetus. The hero, Perseus saved Andromeda from her fate and they married. As punishment by the gods, Cassiopeia became a constellation. The five points in the sky represent her sitting on her throne clinging to it as she circles the North Celestial Pole.