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.

—Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, from the program notes for Metacosmos

Metacosmos (2017)

for orchestra

Duration: 13:00

Anna Thorvaldsdóttir is motivated by structures in nature. She doesn't necessarily try to duplicate them in an impressionistic sense. She sees structures with an architectural eye and translates them into abstract musical statements full of wonder and a sense of grandeur. She can find inspiration in the microscopic or macroscopic, biological or geological, or in the inner space of dreams or the depths of outer space. Her writing process is unique and usually begins with non-musical sketches that could be anything from a word to a line drawn across the width of a page. It's a graphical approach that gets translated back into musical notation once the structures are in place. It's an approach that creates contemporary musical compositions that have much more in common with the textural sound masses of Ligeti or Stockhausen than anything classical or baroque in form. 

Metacosmos is an exploration of falling into the unknown. One of the structures that served as an inspiration for this was an astrophysical object, a black hole in space (See the program notes above). The piece opens with a low fundamental pitch that quietly expands in many directions, painting a dark fabric. Suddenly, the material explodes and expands to include higher pitches that also start to expand outward to encompass a much broader spectrum of sound. Something has exploded. Perhaps a star has reached the end of its life cycle. Steady-state pitches begin to shift into wispy tendrils of sonic matter lurching off in multiple directions. String tremolos are added, and the texture thickens. Low brass begins to growl and add dimension and weight. Something is forming. The low rumble of the brass starts to crescendo in waves, and suddenly we're spinning or looking at something beginning to spin up that's exhibiting doppler shifts.

Then stability is achieved. Major harmonies bring a respite amongst the chaos, and suddenly we're back to the low fundamental of the opening statement. Long melodic lines enter in the strings and upper woodwinds that begin to tail off into downward spiraling glissandos. Strong percussive attacks interrupt the beauty and bring the focus back to the ever-growing fundamental presence. Something large and ominous is staring at us in the face and rapidly getting closer. Rapid, rhythmic ostinato patterns in the percussion create a forward motion that doesn't seem capable of being stopped. The fundamental presence is now right in front of us, and there's no escaping it. Then, the driving pulse stops, and a harmonic shift occurs. Beauty. Major harmonies. We have crossed over a border of some kind, and we're floating in a state of bliss. Melodic lines soar and begin to individually glissando downward. Everything thins out. The fundamental presence disappears, and each melodic strand is spaghettified into oblivion.