Description
Lasse Thoresen: Quietly Turning (Op. 56A) for Solo Violin
(2020/2021)
Quietly Turning takes a particular type of Norwegian fiddle music (lyarslåtter, listening tunes—as opposed to dancing tunes) as its point of departure. These tunes have a particularly quiet, peaceful and sunny atmosphere. The timbre of the violin should be silvery, i.e. with light bowing and normally without vibrato. The tuning of the music is not tempered; it approximates just intonation. The piece uses a scordatura: the third string is tuned up a major second, forming a pure fourth with the second string and an octave with the first string. The fourth string may be tuned slightly high (+12 cents) so as to produce a pure major sixth (5:3) with the third string.
The rhythm of the piece can be characterized as mildly uneven. The note values are generally chosen from the Fibonacci sequence—2:3:5:8—proportions which converge on the golden ratio.
This piece is dedicated to the violinist Gregory Maytan.
Lasse Thoresen, 2020
