Martin Butler
WALDEN SNOW
for viola and piano
Oxford Contemporary Repertoire Series

This tiny, delicate piece has something of the Debussyian prelude about it. Inspired by a visit to the town of Concord, Massachusetts, Butler wrote Walden Snow as a memento, a postcard even, of the Walden Pond and surrounding woods just outside thetown. It deftly deals with the familiar theme of snow, not rising above a piano dynamic throughout. Butler effectively utilises the upper registers of the instruments to depict the lightness of falling snow and contrasts this with bass notes in the piano, perhaps alluding to the depths that snow can conceal.
Walden Snow is included on a disc of Butler's music performed by the Schubert Ensemble, American Rounds. Released in 2007, it is available on the NMC label, NMC D120.
Duration 3 minutes