"Where Are They?" SSATB Piano Strings - Words and Music by John Bergquist

Описание: If you have any interest in this piece or would like to comission John to write a new choral or chamber work, please reach out at [email protected]

"Where Are They?" Voicings available:
SSATB, Piano
SSATB, Piano, Strings (Vln1, Vln2, Vla, Cel, Dbl B)
SSATB, Full Orchestra

Dedicated to my father, Barry: a thinker, a musician, a scientist, a great supporter of mine, a lifetime learner.

Program Notes:
The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between the high statistical likelihood that
intelligent civilizations exist elsewhere in the universe and the lack of scientific evidence of their
existence. The paradox was first proposed in 1950 by physicist Enrico Fermi who looked to the stars
and asked "Where Are They?" after recognizing the abundant opporunities for life to emerge,
and therefore for intelligent life to develop, even just within our Milky Way Galaxy.

This question has been studied by numerous astrophysicists, including Brian Cox who suggests
that despite the high likelihood for life elsewhere, given the absence of evidence of other life
we, the human race, should behave as if we are the only sentient life in the universe.

John Bergquist's text and setting is a reflection on the fragility, and the preciousness of life
when considered in this cosmic scale.