the world sonata project
(2017)
NOSTRORBIS
Opus. 30
Instrumentation: Solo Violin
Duration: 13 Minutes, Seven Movements
Commissioned By: The Violinists of the World Sonata Project 2017
In 2017, the solo violin sonata Nostrorbis—loosely translated from latin as “our world” (Nos, Orb)—was commissioned by violinists in 35 countries. The work contains seven movements, one for each continent, each movement a fleeting but immersive aural snapshot. After being workshopped and edited by its many loving parents, Nostrorbis was performed on a ten-concert tour of ancient Faroe Islands churches, in a bar in New York City, at a city-wide music festival in the Netherlands, on a cross-genre music series in Dublin, and in concert halls in Macedonia and Spain and Indonesia and elsewhere.
“Nostrorbis” is a putting-together of the latin words for “our” and “world”, and indeed for this piece commissioned by violinists from all over the world, I wanted a title that would show what our project is attempting to do (is doing!) in one of our world’s oldest languages.
Each movement is inspired by a continent and its folk music, and the movement titles borrow from cities (or ports, in the case of Antarctica) within those continents. The first movement is akin to a fantasia, the second is inspired by one of the mesmerizing rhythms in Ghanaian traditional music, the third movement is an elegy inspired by Mexico’s acknowledgement of those who went before us in their Day of the Dead and is dedicated to all those who perished and suffered unnecessarily in the early days of the United States as it is now. The fourth movement is a dance seeking to capture the tropical beauty of those southern lands, the fifth movement is a cold meditation telling of the slow and solitary nature of our south pole. The sixth movement is a lullaby, dedicated to songs that kept languages alive in the most terrifying of times, and the seventh movement is inspired by the body-humming timbre of the didgeridoo and calls out to all listening to seek peace and love in their interactions with all fellow humanity.
My deep thanks to each of the violinists who are helping to shape this piece; we’re doing something big and beautiful here: helping the world feel a little smaller and making some music along the way.
perusal score
meet the commissioners
Argentina
Eduardo Ludueña
Australia
Rachael Beesley
Bermuda
Leidy SinclaiR
BRAZIL
Francisco Coser
CANADA
Daniel Temnik
CHILE
Valene Goldenberg
China
Yinbin Qian
Costa Rica
Natalia Hidalgo
Ecuador
Alex Jimbo Viteri
El Salvador
Sara DE JUAREZ
England
Er-Gene Kahng
Faroe Islands
Sámal Petersen
Finland
Sebastian Silén
France
Yoana Ducros
Greece
Kurt Nikkanen
Grenada
Beth Wolf
Guatemala
Mariana Rodriguez
India
Rama Chobhe
Indonesia
Rifki Arif
Ireland
Anna Cashell
Jordan
Layth Sidiq
Macedonia
Aleksandra dimitrievska
Malaysia/Hong Kong
Kian Chong
Mexico
Rosaura Reyes
Netherlands
Mimi Jung
Poland
Oriana MAsternak
Portugal
Tomás Costa
Romania
Andrei Stanciu
Spain
Elena Jauregui
Switzerland
Branko Simic
Taiwan
Nathalie Tsai
USA East Coast
Daniel Kurganov
USA West Coast
Erica UZCÁTEGUI CAMPÍNS
USA Mid-West
Svetlana Tsivinskaya
US MId-West
Emera Gurath
Uruguay
Victoria Moreira
Venezuela
simon gollo
wales
jessica lawless
Details // Concert Prep
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PDF Score + Part(s) sent via email within 2-3 business days. I’m excited to connect with you!
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