)
search-1
search-1 Search
Located in the UK Located in the UK
Located in the USA Located in the USA
Located in Europe Located in Europe

Commissioned by the New York Philharmonic Society with the generous support of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music.

  • 4(picc.afl).2+ca.3+bcl.4+cbn/4222/3perc/str
  • 14 min
    • 6th October 2023, Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavik, Iceland
    • 19th November 2023, Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA, United States of America
    View all

Programme Note

METACOSMOS is constructed around the natural balance between beauty and chaos – how elements can come together in (seemingly) utter chaos to create a unified, structured whole. The idea and inspiration behind the piece, which is connected as much to the human experience as to the universe, is the speculative metaphor of falling into a black hole – the unknown – with endless constellations and layers of opposing forces connecting and communicating with each other, expanding and contracting, projecting a struggle for power as the different sources pull on you and you realize that you are being drawn into a force that is beyond your control.

As with my music generally, the inspiration behind METACOSMOS is not something I am trying to describe through the piece - to me, the qualities of the music are first and foremost musical. When I am inspired by a particular element or quality, it is because I perceive it as musically interesting, and the qualities I tend to be inspired by are often structural, like proportion and flow, as well as relationships of balance between details within a larger structure, and how to move in perspective between the two — the details and the unity of the whole.

Programme note © 2017 Anna Thorvaldsdottir

Media

Anna Thorvaldsdottir: METACOSMOS

Scores

Preview the score

Features

  • Anton Bruckner Bicentenary in 2024
    • Anton Bruckner Bicentenary in 2024
    • Anton Bruckner celebrates his 200th birthday in 2024. The Austrian composer, organist and teacher is one of the great mavericks of the music world. We have highlighted works that can be combined well with Bruckner's symphonies or with his vocal works for your next concert programmes.
  • Icelandic Voices
    • Icelandic Voices
    • With only a population of around 350,000, Iceland punches well above its weight in so many creative and sporting fields – not least in classical music. Some of the most up-and-coming voices in the film, media and classical, names such as Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hildur Guðnadóttir, have come this remote corner of the north Atlantic Ocean and created a worldwide reputation of excellence. Discover the work of three such composers, from three different generations, published by Wise Music.

Reviews

Discography

More Info