(b. 1977)
Anna Thorvaldsdottir was born in Iceland in 1977. She studied composition at the University of California achieving her PhD and MA. Thorvaldsdottir’s music is regularly inspired by the variable qualities of nature and earth through as much by harmonies and as sounds and nuance. Her music is international performed and in 2015 she was chosen at the New York Philharmonic’s Kravis Emerging Composer. This award included a commission for which she wrote Metacosmos which was performed in April 2018 by the orchestra under Esa-Pekka Salonen. Other notable ensembles that have performed her works are the Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Helsinki Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, Thorvaldsdottir’s Metacosmos will be performed at the BBC Proms by the Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music and the Juilliard School.
Anna Thorvaldsdottir Composition Timpani and Percussion Requirements
Aura
Timpani + 4 percussion
Station 1) orchestral bass drum, almglocken C4 & Db4
Station 2) orchestral bass drum, tam tam
Station 3) orchestral bass drum, almglocken F3 & Gb3
Centre Station) vibraphone, 4 crystal glasses D4, F4, A4, C5
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Dreaming
Timpani + 3 percussion + celeste
1) bass bow, suspended cymbal, shell tree, large tam tam, orchestral bass drum
2) bass bow, suspended cymbal, low wood block x 2, orchestral bass drum
3) suspended cymbal, marimba, Thai gongs E2, F2, Bb2, B2
Celeste
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Into Second Self
No Timpani + 4 percussion
1) large tam tam, thunder sheet, 44-77mm 2x4 piece of wood, aluminium screw, large metal wheel
2) large tam tam, thunder sheet, 44-77mm 2x4 piece of wood, aluminium screw, D4 almglocken
3) large tam tam, thunder sheet, 44-77mm 2x4 piece of wood, aluminium screw, G3 almglocken
4) large tam tam, thunder sheet, 44-77mm 2x4 piece of wood, crotale, Bb4 almglocken
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Metacosmos
No Timpani + 3 percussion
1) large tam tam, large orchestral bass drum, Thai gong Bb2
2) large tam tam, large orchestral bass drum
3) suspended cymbal x 2, tom tom x 2, large tam tam, large orchestral bass drum, Thai gong E2
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UR_
No Timpani + 2 percussion
Large orchestral bass drum x 2, large tam tam x 2 (identical size), brake drums x 2 (slightly different sounds), suspended cymbal x 2, ceramic cup x 2, 14 crotales (7 per percussionist), 8 wooden objects (4 per percussionist), 4 bass bows
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