Performed by Maria Turunen & Armaan Madar in Kallion kirkko, Helsinki. 25.09.2021

Autumn Songs - Joel Järventausta (2021)

Performed by Klaara Vasara (clarinet), Abel Puustinen (violin) and Ossi Tanner (piano), at Kamarikesä-festival, Ritarihuone (Finnish House of Nobility), Helsinki. 04.08.2023

Bells & Echoes - Joel Järventausta (2022)

Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir George Benjamin at Musiikkitalo, Helsinki on 15. November 2023.

Recording courtesy of YLE. Permission to upload by YLE.

Sunfall - for orchestra (2019-20)

Written in March - May 2017

This piece takes its title from a poem by Finnish poet Katri Vala. The poem - 'winter elegy' - depicts a dark winterscenery; that of melancholy, cold wind, naked trees, distant memories, agony and death.

All sounds used in the piece derive from prerecorded viola fragments played by Geeta Nazareth.

'Talvinen elegia' -  for fixed media (2017)

Written in May 2017

Through stained glass is a piece which explores subtle electronic manipulation of prerecorded vocal melodic lines juxtaposed with an ever decaying ringing of a bell. The title refers to the stained glass windows of churches and cathedrals. The muffled vocals melodically and harmonically allude to traditional religious choral singing, as if heard from outside a church or a cathedral.

 All vocal lines were sung by Olivia Moss.

through stained glass - for fixed media (2017)

Written in June - September 2017
Performed by Peter Sheppard Skærved at St. Vedast Foster Lane, London - 15.02.2018 

The piece revolves around a few cantabile melodic fragments, manifesting in two or even three voices at once, gradually intensifying and transforming into a soaring singing line at the very top register of the violin, until descending again. Soi in Finnish, means ‘rings’, ‘sounds’, ‘echoes’.

The piece was written for Peter Sheppard Skærved.
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Recording courtesy of Colin Still (Optic Nerve Productions)
Photo by ©Malene Sheppard Skærved

Soi - for solo violin (2017)

Written in August 2018
Performed by Philomel members Olivia Moss, Janet Oates and Felicity Hayward at the Swiss Church, Covent Garden, London -  24.11.2018

The fragment of text heard in this piece - ‘I love thee to the level of every day’s most quiet need, by sun and candle-light’ - is taken from Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s (1806-1861) Sonnet 43 ‘How do I love thee?’. This short love song merges three individual female voices into one melancholic storyteller, holding on to a beautiful thought.

'Most quiet need' was commissioned by Philomel.

Most quiet need - for three female voices (2018)

Written in May - September 2018
Performed by Laura Farré Rozada (piano), BCMG's NEXT Ensemble, conducted by Michael Coleby, CBSO Centre, Birmingham - 25.01.2019

The first movement of this three movement concerto for piano and chamber ensemble begins with a slow melancholic chorale. The piano answers the calling of the ensemble and sets out to establish its individual voice. Throughout this movement the piano is a leading voice with the ensemble accompanying its movements.
The first half of the second movement treats the piano very much as part of the overall texture, however a juxtaposition is created through the microtonal inflections of the ensemble clashing with the equally tempered piano. A climactic surge of colour sets in motion an obsessive, repeating piano figuration resolving in a fragile and bare ending.
The third movement sees bell-like chords and gestures accompanying a lonely cantabile melody played by the piano. Scarcely orchestrated, the ensemble provides a soundscape of alien echoes.

The subtitle of the piece - ‘the sighing of the winds is softer than ever’ - is taken from John Muir’s writings on nature (1838-1914). This piece is dedicated to my friend and collaborator Laura Farré Rozada.

Piano Concerto - 'the sighing of the winds is softer than ever' (2018)

INTERVIEW & BROADCAST: https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/creation-mondiale-l-integrale/ripped-tapestry-de-joel-jarventausta-laureat-du-concours-ile-de-creations-2019-diffusion-integrale-69955

Written in August - November 2018
Performed by Orchestre national d'Île de France, conducted by Jean Deroyer, Centre des bords de Marne, Perreux-sur-Marne, France - 21.02.2019

Recipient of 1st Prize in the 7th Edition of the Île de Créations Composition Competition.

Ripped Tapestry is built of five short movements, all responding to the famous anonymous medieval tune - l’homme armé - in either structural, harmonic or melodic ways. The title refers to the idea of an imaginary tapestry - depicting the armed man - destroyed, ripped apart resulting in an abstracted version of the original. The music follows in this vein.

Ripped Tapestry is a sister piece to Stonewalls (2017) which responds to a medieval plainchant too, however not from France but Finland.
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Recording courtesy of France Musique & Radio France

Ripped Tapestry - for orchestra (2018)

Written in April - June 2019
Performed by ORA Singers, conducted by Suzi Digby, King's College Chapel, London, UK - 27.07.2019

My piece - as kindly requested by ORA Singers - is a reflection upon 'Dum transisset Sabbatum' by John Taverner (1490-1545). The word reflection has two meanings, to physically reflect and to contemplate, so I decided to approach the task from two perspectives; the audible and the abstract, hence the homonymous title 'Reflecting Taverner'. The rich tonal language of Taverner is reflected in the harmonic landscape of my piece. Only five words - Sabbatum, Maria, aromata, Jesum, Alleluia - of the original text remain in my work, all of which bear resonant vowels to allow a rich choral sound. I have also attempted to make the choir sound as if heard from afar or possibly from outside a church, with humming and occasionally chopping the words into syllables. On a more abstract level, presenting these words on their own and in a new context perhaps strips off some of their religious meaning and therefore could depict a juxtaposition between the heavily religious 16th century and the growingly secular times today.

The choir is split into two groups of four set apart from each other, to allow a certain amount of echo-effect and call and response type of interplay. A hushed, distant chorale begins the piece. Words start to emerge. The music soon reaches the climax on the word ‘aromata’ (spices) which is emphasised and reiterated across the choir. This is a word that is also emphasised in Taverner’s setting, through extensive melisma. By the end, the music has stabilised and reached a whole new place harmonically, with the repetition of the words ‘Jesum’ and ‘Alleluia’.

Reflecting Taverner - for choir (2019)

Lullaby - for piano trio (from 'Songs of Empty Landscapes')
Performed by Uusinta Ensemble, Juhlasali Konsu, Puistotorni, Tampere Biennale 2.0, Tampere, Finland - 28.08.2020
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Recording courtesy of YLE Radio 1. First broadcast on 03.09.2020.

Lullaby - for piano trio(2020)

Written in November 2019 - February 2020
Performed by Uusinta Ensemble, Juhlasali Konsu, Puistotorni, Tampere Biennale 2.0, Tampere, Finland - 28.08.2020

Songs of Empty Landscapes is a piece in 7 short movements. The piece was inspired by minimalist photography, specifically the nature images of Bruce Percy. These photographs depict a variety of different ‘empty’ landscapes from white snowy plains to vast deserted lands. 

In the music, I attempted to capture some of the vagueness, emptiness and apparent simplicity that these photographs, or indeed, any empty landscape evokes. Each movement is a piece of its own providing a window into one landscape, yet musical material is shared throughout the whole work. All movements deal with melody and lyricism, hence the reference to a song in the title.

I - Prelude opens the piece with the lonesome singing of the violin.
II - A thick texture dominates Haze. This is punctured by ringing chords, like church bells sounding in the mist. 
III - Snowriver is an abstract depiction of a cold running river in deep winter. 
IV - Lullaby is a slow, wistful piano trio. 
V - Earth Red is inspired by barren, scorched desert landscapes. 
VI - In Grey-Blue the fragile, melancholic soundworld, reflects upon undulating hills of snow-covered lands.
VII - Postlude concludes the work, with the low humming of the cello.
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Recording courtesy of YLE Radio 1. First broadcast on 03.09.2020.

Joel Jarventausta

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