Melia Watras

MELIA WATRAS: Vetur öngum lánar lið
for voice and cello (2016)

World Premiere: Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, voice and cello; June 5, 2016, Seattle, WA

Duration: 3:00

Program Notes:
Vetur öngum lánar lið (Winter aids no one) was written for the amazing cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir. This work springs from my friendship with Sæunn, and her generosity in sharing her feelings about Iceland, her homeland.

When I started collecting and formulating ideas for the piece, I asked Sæunn if she had any poets or wordsmiths in her family or circle of friends; I was interested in having her not only play the cello, but to sing in her native language while she played. She told me her great-grandfather, Bjarni Jónsson, was a poet, and I asked her if she could pick out a poem or two of his. She sent me Vetur öngum lánar lið and Ævidansinn (The Dance of a Lifetime), with English translations by her cousin, Berglaug Ásmundardóttir. Jónsson’s words became the text for my song. The poems, in Icelandic and English, are below.

—Melia Watras

Vetur öngum lánar lið is part of the cycle, Firefly Songs. It can be performed independently, in different combinations with the other works, or as part of the complete set.

Poems by Bjarni Jónsson, written in New York in 1931
Translated by Berglaug Ásmundardóttir

Vetur öngum lánar lið
Vetur öngum lánar lið
leggur þröngu sporin,
Andinn löngum lifnar við
lóusöng á vorin.

Ævidansinn
Allt í gegnum aldaraðir,
ekki breytast heimsins kynni,
ýmist hryggir eða glaðir
dansa menn um dauðans traðir,
Drottinn stjórnar hljómsveitinni.

© used with the generous permission of Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir’s family