We are excited to continue our collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC). This month, we present a piece by Niloufar Nourbakhsh.

Bio

Niloufar Nourbakhsh is an Iranian-American composer whose music has been described as “darkly lyrical” (The New York Times) and “séduisante” (Le Monde). Her works have been commissioned by ensembles and institutions such as the Kronos Quartet, New York Philharmonic musicians, L’Orchestre de Paris, and National Sawdust, and performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and BBC Proms. A founding member of the Iranian Female Composers Association, Nourbakhsh is also a passionate educator, currently teaching at the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Berklee College of Music.

Featured Work: Cyclical Rabbits for Solo Cello

COMPOSITION DETAILS

• Title: Cyclical Rabbits
• Composer: Niloufar Nourbakhsh
• Year of Composition: 2021
• Instrumentation: unaccompanied cello
• Movements: 1
• Duration of Work: 6′
• Number of Measures: 82
• Number of pages: 4
• Tempo: Adagio
• Difficulty Level: professional
• Highest Position Reached: thumb
• Techniques Employed: scordatura (Blu-Tack on D and A string to tune to D# and A#), harmonics, tremelo, sul ponticello; pizzicato, left-hand pizzicato; metered and unmetered notation
• Publisher: Oxingale Music
• Where to Purchase the Score: oxingalemusic.com
• Cost of Score*: PDF – $20; Print – $25

Recording

Program Notes

“I was commissioned to complete a solo cello work for Matt Haimovitz inspired by Charline Von Heyl’s reimagination of Primavera. You can find more information about this project here.” — Niloufar Nourbakhsh

Additional Performance Notes

“As I looked at Charline Von Heyl’s reimagination of Primavera, I noticed several elements that repeat in her work such as traces of a circular brush movements, use of collage, and translucent colors. But one of the most jarring and interesting elements were the rabbits. I noticed them in this specific painting, and realized that they appear in other paintings as well. I understood the rabbits as a symbol of life, and most importantly as a symbol of the never ending and evolving circle of life. In Cyclical Rabbits, I tried to depict this circle through arpeggiation of two chords that are both essentially derived from the slightly altered open strings of the cello in the beginning of the piece.” — Niloufar Nourbakhsh

A Collaboration with the New York Women Composers (NYWC)

The NYWC series at the Cello Museum was created to showcase its members who have composed works for the cello, informing cellists seeking new music to add to their repertoire, and helping listeners find new favorites. Many thanks to the NYWC for this wonderful collaboration.

Read other installments in the series here.

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*Prices are accurate at the time of article publication, but the Cello Museum cannot take responsibility for subsequent price changes.