so poetic an full of beautiful deepness; the streaming of music is very well-balanced for mental condition to contemplate upcoming details. Thanks!

Elsku Borga mín

Rift (2017) for Orchestra
Performed by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Daníel Bjarnason
Recorded by the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service.

Rift is the mapping of Búrfellsgjá’s landscape, and I re-imagined the eruption of Búrfell, which occurred around 8000 years ago. The work starts from the caldera making its way to the descending lava channels, which fuse together into a large river of lava, then filters into streams which run all the way into the sea.

Through a combination of imagination and fieldwork, I collected data which evolved into compositional ideas. Landforms became the main structure of the piece, remanence of the flowing lava visible today, sculpted with the passing of time, affected the amplitude as well as the spectra. The numerous fissures created new events, the ever changing colours of the land had an impact on the timbre, and smaller details were expressed with different extended techniques.

The score is available on Iceland Music Information Centre                         
To purchase parts, please contact itm@mic.is

This work was composed as part of "Yrkja" a collaboration between the Iceland Music Information Centre and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, under the mentorship of Daníel Bjarnason. The workshop provides emerging composers with the opportunity to work closely with the players of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra in composing an orchestral score and preparing for performance. The work's premiere is in January 2018, by the I.S.O., conducted by Daníel Bjarnason

Rift (2017), for Orchestra

Veronique Vaka, born in 1986, is a composer based in Iceland. She studied classical cello performance at Vincent-d’Indy, continued her studies in electro acoustic composition at the University of Montreal and completed a Master's degree in music composition from the Iceland University of the Arts. Her orchestral work Lendh has been nominated for The Icelandic Music Awards 2020 - Composition of the year, and for the Nordic Council Music Prize 2020.

"Lendh, an extraordinary canvas with an umbilical connection to the landscape of the place. […] emerging into a luminous, subtle, carefully formed and exquisitely detailed piece that floats as one ever-transforming entity, pulsating with micro-pressures and glistening details, unfolding organically with spectral-level colour-matching. Pedal notes on lur-like brass are pulled gently and microtonally out of line - the world seen at its most precarious and extreme. Lendh is a marvel.” -Gramophone Editor’s Choice

Veronique Vaka works have been performed by: The Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Sinfóníuhljómsveit Áhugamanna's Orchestra, Ensemble Paramirabo, Duo Harpverk, Ensemble Synaesthesis, Ensemble Adapter, Elektra Ensemble, Caput Ensemble, The Reykjavík Chamber Orchestra, Feima, Siggi String Quartet, Ensemble Dasein, Nordic Affect, Opus XX Orchestra, Feima, Sarah Parkin -soprano, Michael Taylor -countertenor, Una Sveinbjarnardóttir, Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, Þórunn Ósk Marinósdóttir and Halla Steinunn Stefánsdóttir. Veronique Vaka composed a Violin Concerto, Sceadu (2019), a Cello Concerto, Gemæltan (2020) and a Viola Concerto, Vanescere (2021). Her works have been performed during Tertulia Chamber Music (2023), Chamber Music Festival on Valentia Island (2022), Myrkir Músíkdagar/ Dark Music Days (2018-19-20-22), Tónlistarhátíð Rásar 1 (2020), Kammermúsíkklúbburinn (2020), and Sumartónleikar í Skálholti (2018). 

Among upcoming projects are INMOST, an orchestral work written for the Finnish conductor Eva Ollikainen, and NEIGE ÉTERNELLE, a series of five pieces for solo violoncello written for Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir.

Rift (2017), for Orchestra

Veronique Vaka

Recent comments

SFJ

Martins Vilums

AHATA

Related tracks