Blue Aurene is a type of finish that is used on glass. Although it is blue in color, the finish is highly iridescent, containing reflective traces of purple, green and gold. Pieces coated in this finish seem to glow from within.
In 2013, a family vacation to New York state included a stop at the Corning Museum of Glass. While I was fascinated with exploring everything the museum had to offer, there was a particular display that seized my fancy. An entire case had been devoted to glass pieces with the blue aurene finish, with somewhere between fifty and one hundred pieces contained therein, bowls, plates, vases, candlestick holders, and more. I was dazzled and seduced, and it is the only time in my life I can remember having that kind of emotional reaction to a color. I spent at least ten minutes in front of the case, examining the pieces individual, in groups, and just being in awe at the entire display. This piano piece, in a "Pictures at an Exhibition" kind of way, is a musical representation of my reaction, opening with three dense chords, the sort of shock that overcame me when I first looked at the display, which keep recurring in different ways throughout the piece. The chords separate stylistically different sections, representing musically different elements I would have examined in the exhibit.