In Focus: Anna Thorvaldsdottir – Chamber Works

Transitions was commissioned by cellist Michael Nicolas, who suggested the work’s theme of ‘man and machine’. These characteristics are embodied by the solo cello in sharply contrasting musical material. As its title suggests, the piece focuses on the transition between these states and the blurring between them.

This piece for bass flute, bass clarinet, baritone saxophone and contrabassoon was written for International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) for the ICEcommons Project and the New York Public Library and first performed in 2013 at Kaldalón Hall, Harpa Centre, Reykjavik. In her preface to the score, Thorvaldsdottir writes to the performers: “with tranquillity and expressive pulsation”.

This short piece for string quartet and electronics guides you through a snippet of a larger landscape.

Short pieces of string have been tied around specific strings on the instruments, and the electronics feature electronic organ sounds.

Programme note by Heléna Walsh

Hvolf

Bið

Fyrir utan
vinalegt tré
me! útbreiddan faðm
á kalkvegg
einmana
og fótkaldur
engill
sem bíður.

Hvolf

Eiðsvarinn næturkór
Norðurljós
Strokinn hörpustrengur.

© Sigurbjörg ƥrastardóttir

Wait

Outside
a friendly tree
arms outstretched
on a limestone wall
a lonely
footweary
angel
that waits

Dome

Night choir under oath
northern lights
shivering harp string

© Sigurbjörg Þrastardóttir

from Blálogaland (Land of Blue Flames)

Translated from the Icelandic by Sarah Brownsberger

This is a piece concerned with relationships of time. Rapid strings of double tongued notes emphasise the idiosyncracies between the different performers, and these too are contrasted with statements of more regular rhythmic language. The sense of temporality across the piece shifts accordingly with the balance between air and pitch. Soon, the two temporal are drawn together into a new system; a constant feedback loop of acceleration that gradually drains the energy from the piece.

Programme note by Eve Vickers

Rain was first performed at the Skálholt Summer Concerts in Iceland in 2010 by Tiffany DuMouchelle (soprano), Berglind María Tómasdóttir (flute) and Pablo Gómez Cano (guitar). Rather than using a text, the vocal part is formed from vowel sounds intended to communicate on a purely musical level beyond language.