Veturnaetur (2003)
string orchestra
duration 4:00
note from composer
Veturnaetur, "winter nights," was the Old Norse festival at the beginning of winter, a night of drinking and feasting, but also of animal sacrifice.
A short programmatic work for string orchestra, Veturnaetur is alternately foreboding and celebratory, evoking the onset of winter weather, the violence of sacrifice, and culminating in a vision of a dancing festival.
This is one of my very first compositions, composed November 2003, while studying with Mary Ellen Childs at St Olaf College.
- Matthew Peterson, 21 June 2016, Lovö
acknowledgment
With thanks to Steven Amundson, who conducted the first recording and public performance,, and to Mary Ellen Childs, who guided me through my very first compositions.
PERUSAL SCORE
PERFORMANCES
premiere: St. Olaf Orchestra string section, December 2003
additional performances: St Olaf Summer Music Camp Orchestra, July 2004