Wintertrees
by Jónas Tómasson, written for and dedicated to Hlíf
Sigurjónsdóttir in 1983.Winter Trees
good trees
sad trees
mad trees
quiet . . .
The composer Jónas Tómasson (b. 1946) teaches flute and music theory at the Music School of Ísafjörður. Educated in the Netherlands he has composed numerous works and pieces for a variety of instruments and vocals - solo works and symphonies.
"The 1982 - 1983 was my second winter teaching at the Music School in Ísafjörður, a small fishing town of 2500 inhabitants in North West Iceland. The town is situated on a small strip of land in a narrow fjord with high and steep mountains all around, completely void of woods. The only trees are found in people's gardens. The sun doesn´t shine in the town for six weeks during the darkest time of the winter. There were severe storms and a lot of snow - it just kept snowing. At times we were snowed in and I felt very isolated.
When spring came I found my friend Jónas in his garden cutting down and trimming broken and damaged trees from the winter. There was still snow on the ground when I left Ísafjörður at the end of June, with ´Wintertrees´ in my bag.
It was a winter of intense emotional experiences. It was the winter my father died, I met my future husband and partner and I made friends for life.
I do hear the storms, the snow, the sadness, the darkness, the loneliness and the joy of the light, the miracle of the sun and the joys of dear friendships." H.S.
- see also "samples"
Variations on Victimae Paschali Laudes
"I met Alfred Felder through mutual friends an colleagues at Züricher Kammerorchester in Switzerland 1987. After returning to Iceland I received Variations on Victimae paschali laudes for solo violin which he had written for me and I was privileged to premiere in Reykjavík in the spring 1988. He wrote:
Es sind Variationen im Klang und Ausdruck über den gregorianischen Choral Victimae paschali laudes, die Ostersequenz. Ostern bedeutet für mich: Leiden, Tod, Trauer, Auferstehung, Freude. Und genau diese Stimmungen, der Wechsel Trauer - Freude wollte ich mit dieser Musik einfangen.
Nun zur Musik: Nach einem kurzen Einstimmen, wird das Thema (der Choral) vorgestellt. Danach erklingen 4 Variationen, die genau die Töne des Chorals übernehmen, rhythmisch verändert, Oktav versetzt, transponiert. Es erscheinen also die gleichen Töne des Chorals in einer modernen Klangsprache. In einer Coda (Flageolettes) wird der Schluss des Choral-Textes beschrieben: tu nobis, victor rex miserere ( - hab mit uns erbarmen).
These are variations in the sound and expressiveness of the Gregorian Easter chant Victimae paschali laudes. Easter means to me: Suffering, death, grief, resurrection and joy. These moods, the variations between sadness and joy, I wanted to capture in the music.
Now to the music: After short 'tuning' the theme (the chorale) is presented followed by four variations. All of these variations are built on the notes of the choral, but rhythmically changed and transposed to different octaves. The coda refers directly to the last line of the hymn: tu nobis, victor Rex, miserere. [have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!]