MELIA WATRAS: SELVAGGIO
for violin solo (2018)
World Premiere: Mark Fewer, violin; July 5, 2023, Blonay, Switzerland
Duration: 2:38
Program Notes:
Selvaggio was penned for the fantastic violinist Mark Fewer.
Mr. Fewer was commissioning new solo caprices for violin, written by, as he described it, recognized virtuosi on different instruments, and I was honored when he asked me to contribute.
With Paganini as my spiritual guide, I set about creating my caprice, incorporating some material from my cycle Firefly Songs (2015-2018), a collection of works for various voices and instruments. During the process, I found (coincidentally, and rather fittingly) that the retrograde inversion of a theme from my piece (one) resulted in something that bore a resemblance to the opening of Paganini’s 20th Caprice.
—Melia Watras