Vesna Ayama was written for Kreutzer Quartet celebrating the hundred years anniversary since the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s
The Rite of Spring (Весна священная) in 1913 in Paris.

The title of the work is composed of two words: Vesna (весна) is a Russian word for spring and ayama (Sanskrit) that means ‘to extend’ or ‘draw out’  or ‘continue’ our appreciation of Stravinsky’s mastery in ‘The Rite’.

Apart from the short paraphrase of The Rite’s ‘Augurs of Spring’ at the beginning of the quartet there are no other references to Stravinsky’s masterpiece. Vesna Ayama is characterised by very dense harmonic rhythm  and swift passages in all four string instruments resembling sonic gestures in electroacoustic music that continuously oscillate between harmony and timbre. Vesna Ayama’s texture varies between homo-rhythm to counterpoint of three or four voices. The thematic material stems from three Macedonian folk songs and they can be recognised only in the beginnings of the melodic-rhythmic motives as the syntax, phrasing, and structure of the composition have no similarities with he structure of the traditional Macedonian folk music.