Melia Watras

MELIA WATRAS: BERCEUSE
for violin and viola (2015)

World Premiere: Michael Jinsoo Lim, violin; Melia Watras, viola; April 3, 2016, Seattle, WA

Duration: 2:50

Program Notes:
Berceuse for violin and viola is an arrangement of Berceuse with a Singer in London, which I wrote for the fantastic folk singer Galia Arad. Galia and I share a number of connections, including spending formative years in Bloomington, Indiana, where Galia grew up, and where I went to college, studying viola with Galia’s father, the distinguished violist and composer Atar Arad. The piece first took shape while I was practicing the exquisite fourth movement of Schumann’s Märchenbilder. Galia’s singing style was very much in my mind as I composed.

—Melia Watras

Berceuse 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.