Just days after a Japanese moon probe ended in failure and new footage of Martian landscapes from a remote helicopter drone was released, Sydney Symphony Orchestra had its eyes firmly set on outer space for its concert featuring German star violinist Arabella Steinbacher giving a world premiere of a concerto written for her by Australian composer Georges Lentz.

Born in Luxembourg but resident in Australia since 1990, Lentz is a familiar figure on the Sydney Opera House concert hall stage as a violinist with the SSO. But he is also highly regarded as a composer and for 35 years he has been working on a cycle of compositions inspired by Hubble telescope images of outer space and Pythagoras’s theory of the music of the spheres, along with aspects of Aboriginal culture.

Called Caeli enarrant (The heavens are telling), each work is written for various combinations of instruments and takes up to 10 years to complete, so the premiere of one of these extraordinary pieces is an event in itself.

Arabella Steinbacher performs Lentz at the Sydney Opera House conducted by Umberto Clerici. Photo © Craig Abercrombie

Lentz wanted to write music...