Aequora is a smooth or level surface, expanse, surface; a level stretch of ground, plain. Until the present recording, Mina Gajić and Zachary Carrettin have recorded under their given names. Occasionally performing live under the duo’s moniker, Mystery Sonata. Especially in non-classical settings presenting a diversity of repertoire and styles.

This is the first recording for which the duo has chosen to use the name Mystery Sonata. Embracing the inherent mystery in presenting contemporary music and new arrangements and instrumentations for the first time.

Aequora for grand piano and electronics by María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir was originally commissioned for the Iceland Arts Festival in 2015 by the pianist Árni Heiðar Karlsson. The work is inspired by a text of Anne Carson from her book Nox, (including the segment above). In meeting María, she expressed to Mina and me that she had been thinking about adding a texture, an element, a new voice to the composition.

“She and I connected in sharing stories of our violin studies and we even found that many years ago we both studied with the same great violinist at a summer festival. Not only did María successfully and beautifully create and integrate the violin into this work, she also composed a coda of new material, a melody that seems to exist without pulse and beyond time; it is extraordinarily effective and magical. María writes, “The manuscript is hand-written without time signature. The electronic part creates a certain atmosphere and a frame over which the instruments play. The piano part is more fixed and the violin is written as a counterpoint to the other layers, creating tension and release. The piece evolves from uncertainty towards a clearer structure and demands from the performers a close listening and attention to delicate nuances.” 

Mystery Sonata
Mina Gajic, Piano
Zachary Carrettin, Violin