Times of Rain and Sun

Times of Rain and Sun for solo violin and ensemble was written for the incredible soloist Viktoria Kaunzner, who has inspired me immensely with her humanity, incredible searching mind, her musicality, virtuosity and velvety glorious violin sound. She is one rare pure talent that has impressed me from the moment I met her a few years ago. It was a privilege to have been asked by Viktoria to write for these 2022 EurAsian Flow concerts.

I live in Sydney, Australia and in the past few years we have had devastating bushfires followed by terrible floods. This drove ideas for this eight minute work. In my piece both the rain and the sun are happy occurrencies, not the destructive ones that we have had in Australia recently. The beginning represents rain drops just how we like them: gentle, pleasant, caressing and when the sun comes out in the bigger moments in the work, it is a warm, nourishing, beautiful sun that gives us warmth and light. I wanted to give Viktoria an uplifting, hopeful as well as joyful work.
Elena Kats-Chernin, 2022