Melia Watras

ALESSANDRA BARRETT: LA FOLIAGE
for violin and viola (2021)

World Premiere: Michael Jinsoo Lim, violin; Melia Watras, viola; April 11, 2022, Seattle, WA

Program Notes:
La Foliage is a piece that illuminates vignettes from my own life. Firstly, this work was inspired by a doctoral dissertation entitled “The Everlasting Folia,” written by my dear friend Dr. Emily Acri. Her dissertation illustrated the history and lineage throughout time of the folia theme, which she describes as an “everlasting, ever-changing body of work.” In this spirit, I wanted to contribute to the folia repertoire by composing my own piece based on Corelli’s celebrated version of La Folia, published in 1700. A variation of the La Folia theme is heard throughout La Foliage as an ostinato (repeating figure) that is traded between the violin and viola. My second inspiration for La Foliage was the desire to create a musical allegory capturing America’s changing political climate between the two U.S. presidencies during which this piece was written: beginning in 2020 during a melancholy Trump era and ending in 2022 during a hopeful, albeit confused, Biden era. My third inspiration for La Foliage was to capture elements of my Russian Jewish, Irish, and Scottish heritages. The term “foliage” classically refers to growth and change. La Foliage embodies my own personal growth and change, as well as the change within my country.

I am incredibly honored that Melia Watras asked me to write this piece. She was inspired by a meditation I wrote in early 2020 for our mutual friend, Sonja Myklebust, who tragically lost her battle with brain cancer. The piece for Sonja, Lifeblood, is a work for solo viola and pre- recorded ostinato. The ostinato line symbolized the cyclical, continuity of breath, while the solo viola part symbolized life’s journey and the changes that affect breath. Originally, La Foliage was intended to be another work for solo viola and pre-recorded ostinato. But I was elated when Melia mentioned Mike (violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim) might also like to play this piece. I adjusted the work as a duet between violin and viola, with the ostinato line alternating between the two instruments. I am so lucky to have these two beautifully thoughtful musicians play this work together.

—Alessandra Barrett