MELIA WATRAS: VETUR
for cello solo (2016)
World Premiere: Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello; October 15, 2017, New York, NY
Duration: 9:07
Program Notes:
Vetur (Winter) is based on material from my song Vetur öngum lánar lið (Winter aids no one). Both pieces were written for the fabulous cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, with the song containing text from poems by Sæunn’s great-grandfather Bjarni Jónsson.
The seasons have, of course, provided fertile material for composers’ imaginations. As a respectful look at the past, I use the same pitch center (F) for Vetur as Vivaldi did for his Winter from the Four Seasons, and under Vivaldi’s influence, I created a recurring theme in the work, using quarter tones.
—Melia Watras
Cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir performs Melia Watras’s Vetur for cello solo (2016) live on King-FM’s Northwest Focus Live on September 24, 2021.