Thorvaldsdottir, Anna: Transitions

for solo violoncello

The theme of this work is ‘man & machine’, as commissioned by Michael Nicolas. The theme is represented in that the Cellist becomes both in the piece – man & machine – where man indicatesperforming expressively with emotion, and a musical approach to the music, and machine indicates more precise rhythmic and technical accuracy, a somewhat stricter approach to the music. These two approaches gradually transitionfrom one to another throughout the work. Anna Thorvaldsdottir frequently works with large sonic structures that tend to reveal the presence of a vast variety of sustained sound materials, reflecting her senseof imaginative listening to landscapes and nature. Her music tends to portray a flowing world of sounds with an enigmatic lyrical atmosphere.