Title: Nebula Variations
Year Completed: 2022
Duration: 22 mins
Instrumentation: Solo Violin
Credits: Commissioned by Gillian Smith
Premiere: October 26, 2023 Festival Theatre, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Premiere of album November 02, 2023, Joseph Strug Concert Hall, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Purchase/Rent: TBA
1. Nebula
2. Fantasia
3. Interlude
4. Star Cluster
5. Aether
At its heart, Nebula Variations is a large-scale improvisation, notated and scored for solo violin. It is a work that plays on space and time, improvisation, modes, minimalism, aleatory, fantasia, counterpoint, and virtuosity. The first movement, Nebula, is free and spacious. No rhythms are notated. The wide leaps remind me of a nebula, a giant cloud of dust and gas. Photos of nebulas are often breathtaking in their infinite array of shapes and colours. The second movement, Fantasia, is true to its name; free-spirited and highly energetic. An interlude with triple and quadruple stops—perhaps reminiscent of a Bach partita—transitions to movement 3, Star Cluster. This movement is minimalistic and highly repetitive with quirky rhythmic patterns. The last movement, Aether, unfolds slowly, concluding with variations in the latter half. Writing for a solo instrument is a difficult task for a composer. Fortunately, the violin is a polyphonic instrument capable of playing many notes simultaneously, and Gillian Smith is a virtuosic performer who can certainly bring such a difficult work to life!
Year Completed: 2022
Duration: 22 mins
Instrumentation: Solo Violin
Credits: Commissioned by Gillian Smith
Premiere: October 26, 2023 Festival Theatre, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Premiere of album November 02, 2023, Joseph Strug Concert Hall, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Purchase/Rent: TBA
1. Nebula
2. Fantasia
3. Interlude
4. Star Cluster
5. Aether
At its heart, Nebula Variations is a large-scale improvisation, notated and scored for solo violin. It is a work that plays on space and time, improvisation, modes, minimalism, aleatory, fantasia, counterpoint, and virtuosity. The first movement, Nebula, is free and spacious. No rhythms are notated. The wide leaps remind me of a nebula, a giant cloud of dust and gas. Photos of nebulas are often breathtaking in their infinite array of shapes and colours. The second movement, Fantasia, is true to its name; free-spirited and highly energetic. An interlude with triple and quadruple stops—perhaps reminiscent of a Bach partita—transitions to movement 3, Star Cluster. This movement is minimalistic and highly repetitive with quirky rhythmic patterns. The last movement, Aether, unfolds slowly, concluding with variations in the latter half. Writing for a solo instrument is a difficult task for a composer. Fortunately, the violin is a polyphonic instrument capable of playing many notes simultaneously, and Gillian Smith is a virtuosic performer who can certainly bring such a difficult work to life!
