Piano Solo - Digital Download SKU: A0.507392 Composed by Heather Cattanach. 20th Century,Children,Contemporary,Instructional. Score. 5 pages. Published by Heather Cattanach (A0.507392). Hydra is the biggest of the 88 Constellations. Ptolemy, the Greek astronomer catalogued this constellation in the second century. Two Greek legends mention Hydra. The first tells how Heracles (Hercules) fought and killed the nine-headed monstrous predatory snake. The second relates the story of Corvus (the crow) who was commanded to bring water to Apollo, but was distracted, and blamed the water snake for his being late in returning to Apollo with the cup (Crater). In honour of Hydra’s extensive span across the sky, all 88 keys are used. Thus much of the material is chromatic (and also palindromic) but in bars 9, 19 and 29, you can see the approximate shape of the constellation if you join the dots of the noteheads. I have chosen to eschew the use of 8va and 8vb signs, instead opting to show the expanse of all the notes on the keyboard as they appear on the staff. It is easy to play these high and low leger line notes, knowing that they always begin (or end) at the top or bottom of the piano keyboard (i.e. the highest C and the lowest A). From “88 Constellations†a collection by Heather Cattanach featuring one piece of piano music for each of the 88 constellations (to match the number of keys on a standard piano). Intermediate Piano Solo. Performance Time 1 1/2 minutes. 4 pages. (General Instructional, Modern, 21st Century, Repertoire, Recital).
