REQUIEM FOR A STAR
Cosmic Soundscapes of Destruction and Creation
For Cikada String Quartet and double bass by Sigurd Hole
World Premiere: 21.01.2026, Dokkhuset, Trondheim
Sigurd Hole:
– ‘I’ve always been drawn to the night sky—the vastness, the silence, the sense of something both eternal and fleeting. Growing up in a place with almost no light pollution, I often experienced truly dark skies as a child. However, it wasn’t until I was nearly 40 that I got my first telescope. Since then, I have spent countless hours under the stars, studying distant nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies. Stargazing is, to me, a profound aesthetic experience. The celestial objects I observe are beautiful in themselves, and the knowledge that I am looking at light that has traveled thousands or even millions of years before hitting my retina adds an unique existential depth. It is indeed a form of time travel—an encounter with the distant past of the cosmos that puts our human struggles into perspective. At a time when the world feels increasingly chaotic, looking up at the stars offers a sense of calm and continuity.
My fascination with astronomy has already inspired several compositions, including “Reflections in Light” with Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken, Vilda&Inga and Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen, “Prism” with Audun Sandvik and Bjarne Magnus Jensen, and “Cygnus X1” for Ellen Andrea Wang’s double bass orchestra, written for the opening concert of Moldejazz 2021.
The most recent addition is Requiem for a Star – Cosmic Soundscapes of Destruction and Creation, a new work for string quartet and double bass commissioned by the CIKADA String Quartet.
Picture: NGC 2329 – Katteøyetåken (planetarisk tåke i Draco)
(Av NASA, ESA, HEIC og Hubble Heritage Team)
Arr: Dokkhuset Scene
