Kirsten Volness "Hverfa" for Piano Quartet

Kirsten Volness (b. 1980) grew up in a small town in southern Minnesota, a place that fostered in her a keen interest in the outdoors and the wonders of nature. The magic to be found in the natural world informs and inspires her creative work as do earth-based spiritual traditions. She completed her DMA in Composition at the University of Michigan (from which she also holds an MM).

Hverfa, (2006) pronounced ker'fa, means to "disappear" or "vanish" in Icelandic. The word also has connotations of revolution, spiraling and change. I had this image of a long winter's journey in my mind as well as the theme so commonly found in Scandinavian short stories that the forest and sea are places of (super)natural danger.

Volness_HverfaEXCERPT.mp3