Aurora Australis

Aurora Australis, the southern hemisphere’s equivalent to the famous Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), is a descriptive work portraying the colourful night sky light display visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia.

The work depicts this wonderful glowing sky phenomenon as it subtly grows from nothing into a large energetic geomagnetic storm, emitting contrasting shapes and colours in the night sky, before gently fading away as the night comes to an end.

Grade Level: 4
Copyright: 2018

Listen to Recording

Performed by St Olaf Band, St Olaf College Minnesota
Directed by Dr Timothy Maher, conducted by Matt Klohs.

Sample PDF

Instrumentation

Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
Clarinet 1
Clarinet 2
Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

Trumpet 1
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Euphonium TC
Tuba

Double Bass
Harp

Timpani
Mallets [Xylophone, Vibraphone]
Percussion 1 [Suspended Cymbal, China Cymbal, Tom]
Percussion 2 [Wind Chimes, Snare, Glockenspiel]
Percussion 3 [Tam-Tam, Bass Drum, Triangle]