#4701, With Anna Thorvaldsdottir

Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir joins John Schaefer, ahead of the U.S. premiere of her work, CATAMORPHOSIS, by the New York Philharmonic and Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. The new work, a joint commission between the Berliner Philharmoniker, the City of Birmingham Symphony, Iceland Symphony orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic, will be played at Lincoln Center on Jan. 12-14.

Thorvaldsdottir’s work may evoke the cold, quiet landscape of Iceland, or, in the case of her work, CATAMORPHOSIS, the fragility of the relationship that humans have with the planet. (This is quite contrary to the way that Cate Blanchett’s character in Tár berates Thorvaldsdottir’s music, saying it sounds like a string section tuning up and is about nothing… [ed. note- I have not yet seen the flim.])

The way Thorvaldsdottir calls for sounds, and sound making, is distinct, in the way she can get unusual sounds from conventional instruments, and is sometimes inspired by electronic music. In CATAMORPHOSIS, sounds come from a sizable percussion section where chain is placed on a bass drum played with wire brushes, which may sound like electric distortion; or the percussive noises made inside the piano; or even the eerie stasis of singing bowls. Thorvaldsdottir's writing merges and combine these textures and moves between layers of sound. Listen to a portion of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s CATAMORPHOSIS, and this balance between forces of nature and human destruction. Hear also a portion of her work Ró, as mentioned in the film Tár, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4701, with Anna Thorvaldsdottir (First aired 1/10/23)

ARTIST: Caput Ensemble, Guðni Franzson
WORK: Thorvaldsdottir: Ró [1:23] 
RECORDING: Aerial
SOURCE: DG / Sono Luminus
INFO: sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/aerial

ARTIST: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge; Graham Ross; The Dmitri Ensemble; Carolyn Sampson, soprano
WORK: Thorvaldsdottir: Ad genua [10:23] 
RECORDING: Ice Land: The Eternal Music
SOURCE: Harmonia Mundi
INFO: store.harmoniamundi.com

ARTIST: City of Birmingham Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, cond.
WORK: Thorvaldsdottir: Catamorphosis, excerpt [8:55] 
RECORDING: This performance not commercially available
SOURCE/INFO: https://www.annathorvalds.com/bio

ARTIST: City of Birmingham Symphony; Ludovic Morlot, cond.
WORK: Thorvaldsdottir: Catamorphosis, ending [:55] 
RECORDING: This performance not commercially available
SOURCE/INFO: https://www.annathorvalds.com/bio

ARTIST: Caput Ensemble, Guðni Franzson
WORK: Thorvaldsdottir: Ró [10:37] 
RECORDING: Aerial
SOURCE: DG / Sono Luminus
INFO: sonoluminuslabel.bandcamp.com/album/aerial

ARTIST: Berlin Philharmonic; Kirill Petrenko, cond.; Daniil Trifonov, piano
WORK: Thorvaldsdottir: Catamorphosis, excerpt [2:33] 
RECORDING: This performance not commercially available
SOURCE/INFO: https://www.annathorvalds.com/bio