The Polar Vortex is the mass of extremely cold air situated over each of the earth's poles. Occasionally the vortex slips away from the polar region bringing unusually cold air to areas away from the pole. Polar Vortex is a depiction of a winter storm inspired by the poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The Snow-Storm." It is a rhapsodic piece with many contrasting moments, styles, tempos, and colors of sound.