World premiere 17 April 2019 — Brigham Young University Symphonic Band, Dr. Kirt Saville, Director.

Recipient of third prize in the music composition category of the 2019 Vera Hinckley Mayhew Creative Arts Contest.

Virga is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “a mass of streaks of rain appearing to hang under a cloud and evaporating before reaching the ground.” The word stems from the Latin word of the same spelling meaning rod, stripe, or branch.

Virgae, the plural of virga, form when surface air is hot and dry and precipitation evaporates or sublimates before hitting the ground. Consequently, virga is most commonly observed in desert areas, such as the southwestern United States.

The composer, Robert Alger, was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and raised in at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains in Utah. Both climates are dry, and virgae are not uncommon.

The paradox of water both rising and falling simultaneously is the inspiration for this piece. Ostinatos maintain the chords floating and unresolved; the main theme rises and falls in a state of perpetual limbo.

More about this piece in this blog post.