Daníel Bjarnason: Sleep Variations

“14 minutes of sonic tossing and turning that is likely to be considered one of the greatest triumphs of [Bjarnason’s] career.”
(Music Press Daily)

Daníel Bjarnason’s Sleep Variations for solo viola and orchestra, inspired by a Margaret Atwood poem, deploys string scrapes and harmonics along with tumbled harps and percussion to create a brooding, semi-conscious breathing effect. The viola inhabits this world as the narrator of the poem does:

Variations on the Word “Sleep” (excerpt, by Margaret Atwood)
I would like to watch you sleeping,
which may not happen.
I would like to watch you,
sleeping. I would like to sleep
with you, to enter
your sleep as its smooth dark wave
slides over my head

The piece crests and peaks, finally resolving in glittery darkness. Bjarnason is a master of timbre, creating textures that are as unexpected as they are gorgeous. Nadia and Daníel met as prominent members of the Reykjavík-based music collective and record label Bedroom Community. Their easy and productive collaborative background is shown in full force in this work.

“Ultimately, the highlight of the concert was the last item on the program, Bjarnason’s Sleep Variations, which stood out as both an ideal showpiece for Sirota’s muscular sound and a fully formed work with plenty of variety crammed into its 15-or-so minutes. Over the course of the piece, nervous tension gave way to contentious dissonance and eventually to peace, with Sirota’s viola sometimes floating above and sometimes diving into the midst of the ensemble. Simultaneously sophisticated and approachable, Sleep Variations will hopefully catch on among both seasoned classical listeners and fans of all genres looking for something new.”
(Bad-entertainment.net)