Late Night Synths And Strings

Meriläinen's trio for flute, piano and cello
Mikael Helasvuo, flute
Tuija Hakkila, piano
Anssi Karttunen, cello

Usko Meriläinen: Henriette's Feast (Henrietten juhlat)

Pentti Saaritsa - Ascensus

read by Pentti Saaritsa

Pentti Saaritsa - Ascensus (poem)

Disputatio (2023), for 16 instruments

T.J. Borden, violoncello
Whitmore Recital Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia
T.J. Borden Cello Recital
04/10/2019
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When I wrote my string quartet Culs-de-sac (en passacaille) in 2009, it was evident to me that I should develop the sonic soundscape that I have created in that piece. I have decided that I write a cycle of compositions for string quartet and its subsets. Tr (épilogue) marks the second piece that I completed in this cycle. Its title has a precursor; Tr for violoncello and piano, of which I took the formal scheme as a point of reference for the solo piece. I took the duo piece, stripped away the piano part, and enlarged the piece by adding musical commentaries. As the title may suggest, I intend that this piece concludes the cycle. In the spirit of concluding the cycle, my focus in this piece was to illuminate the gestures of ‘farewell,’ in the sense that the envelope of the phrases has the conscious trajectory of fade-out. Many thanks to Patrick McGuire who, in the symposium Creative Dialogue V, premiered the work-in-progress version as a part of Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Also thanks are due to Anssi Karttunen and Magnus Lindberg, whose commentaries and feedbacks were crucial to the development of the piece. Tr (épilogue) is dedicated to Pierre Morlet and Mark Andre.

Tr (épilogue) (2012/14)

Kresten Osgood, drums
Anssi Karttunen, cello
Lucas Dann, piano

March 8th 2024 Het Roode Bioskoop, Amsterdam

The Badgers: The Amsterdam Set

Poetic Forms : Laisse, Chanson de Geste est la deuxième œuvre achevée de ma série Poetic Forms, dans laquelle les composantes structurelles de la poésie littéraire sont transposées ou transformées en paramètres musicaux. Cette série s’inscrit dans le cadre de mon projet compositionnel plus large : explorer de nouvelles approches pour construire et définir les éléments fondamentaux de la musique. Le sous-titre de la pièce — 5 lignes pour quatuor à cordes — met en évidence sa base structurelle : la laisse de cinq vers, tirée de la Chanson de Geste, plus précisément de la Chanson de Doon de Nanteuil, dont seuls des fragments nous sont parvenus. Inspiré par cette forme textuelle, j’ai réutilisé et réinterprété un large éventail de techniques compositionnelles issues de la musique ancienne, en m’inspirant notamment d’Hildegarde de Bingen, de l’École de Notre-Dame (Léonin, Pérotin), de Guillaume de Machaut, de l’Ars Subtilior (Solage, Ciconia), ainsi que des traités théoriques du compositeur du XVIe siècle Nicola Vicentino. Composée pour le projet Musiques Envoûtées du Quatuor Béla, la pièce a été conçue autour de la notion de résonance comme idée musicale centrale. Au cours de son élaboration, j’ai exploré différentes dimensions de la résonance : en tant que perception de l’espace acoustique ; comme relation entre les instrumentistes (corps résonants) ; comme phénomène harmonique ; et comme lien entre les phrases musicales successives ou interpolées. Ainsi, Poetic Forms : Laisse peut être perçue comme une sorte de traité sur la résonance — examinant son potentiel en tant que principe générateur de la forme musicale — dans l’esprit même des œuvres et des figures historiques qui ont nourri sa création. 
Immense remercie à Quatuor Béla pour leur travail magnifique et pour leur performance à l'église d'Ayn pendant la création, entendu ici en 5 Août, comme part du Festival Nuits d'Été.

Poetic Forms: laisse, chanson de geste, for string quartet (world premiere)

Anssi Karttunen, cello
Oliver Knussen, conductor
Finnish RSO

Elliott Carter: Cello Concerto

Toimii ensemble in studio 1998.
Anssi Karttunen, Timo Korhonen, Kari Kriikku, Magnus Lindberg, Juhani Liimatainen, Riku Niemi


Kurt Schwitters:  Ursonate,  Toimii ensemble

Simple

Le Brasier De Tristesse

Hymn to the Immortal Wind

Silent Flight, Sleeping Dawn (Remastered)

Originally conceived as a Royal Ballet-commissioned collaboration between composer Max Richter, choreographer Wayne McGregor and artist Julian Opie, Max Richter’s gorgeous score to ‘infra’ is deservedly given life of its own in this album-length release from FatCat’s instrumental/orchestral imprint 130701 Records.

The initial setting for ‘infra’ was as a ballet - written in autumn 2008 and premiered in November of the same year at The Royal Opera House in London – although here Richter’s score is given the full scope of a standalone new album. Expanded and extended from the original piece, ‘infra’ comprises music written for piano, electronics and string quintet, including the full performance score as well as material that has subsequently developed from the construction of the album – more a continued reference to the ballet than as a “studio album” in the strictest sense. The composition resonates with Max’s characteristic musical voice – majestic, involved textures; fluent and sweeping melodies; an enigmatic and inherently intellectual understanding of harmonic complexities that compels and mesmerizes.

Richter’s work on the ballet came initially from McGregor’s invitiation, a request for 25 minutes of music for his piece, inspired by T.S. Elliot’s ‘The Wasteland’ and named after the Latin term for ‘below’. This eventually became more collaborative as the project developed – Wayne would ask for Max to extend or alter certain passages of music in accordance with his own amendments to his choreography and concept, whilst logging the whole process for a BBC documentary (broadcast, along with the ballet in full, on BBC2 in November 2008). The dance performance was backed with digital images created by Julian Opie – observational scenes of street life, haunting and curiously balletic despite being of the everyday – and Max’s score is an appropriately close reference to the traveling theme:

“I started thinking about making a piece on the theme of journeys. Like a road movie. Or a traveler’s notebook. Or like the second unit in a film - when the scene has been played, and the image cuts away to the landscape going by. This started me thinking about Schubert's devastating and haunting "Winterreise" (Winter Journey), so I used some melodic material from Schubert as a found object in parts of my new piece.“

The recording of ‘infra’ took place in one day at London’s AIR Studios – recorded onto 2” tape, engineered by Nick Wollage and overseen by Max - before a return to the mixing studio (Max’s StudioKino and Trixx in Berlin) for Max’s typically intricate and lengthy process of crafting completed pieces from the recordings.

Infra

Infra 3

The Debut Album "Nothing Is Still", out now on Ninja Tune.
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Nothing Is Still

Movements (Chapter III)

An improvisation inspired by and recorded looking at a monotype by Visa Norros. The picture is impossible to reproduce being all in different textures of black. I felt that the best way to share the impression of looking at it was to transform my feelings into music.

December 18th, 2020

Elliott Carter: Cello Concerto

Anssi Karttunen

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