Name: Bells & Echoes - Joel Järventausta (2022) by Joel Jarventausta
Duration: 20 min 5 s
Description: Performed by Klaara Vasara (clarinet), Abel Puustinen (violin) and Ossi Tanner (piano), at Kamarikesä-festival, Ritarihuone (Finnish House of Nobility), Helsinki. 04.08.2023

For prepared 37-reed soprano descant sheng.

Performed by Wu Wei. Sound engineer: Knut Beck.

Selfsame (2021)

[Binaural recording - headphones recommended]
[A 360 VR version of this piece with spatial audio may be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3A00mLOkeA ].

Composed as a spatial electronic prelude for my ensemble piece 'Antikythera', Gruss was prompted by the sound of a solitary church bell tolling in the Spring of 2021.  Hearing a bell being rung for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic was a joyful occasion.  However, this was immediately combined with sorrow due the poignant reminder of the continuing impossibility of group activities such as the change ringing which this lone bell had so hauntingly replaced.  Indeed, the bell seemed to encapsulate the necessarily distanced and solitary nature of almost everyone's existence at that time, and to echo the static nature of day-to-day life through periods of lockdown.

Gruss from Antikythera [Binaural]

Excerpts from 'Shifting Bodies', 'A Voice Within', 'Palpitations' and 'Lost in Tokyo'

Excerpts of my music

Mass for treble choir, percussion ensemble, organ and orchestra.

• 00:00 Kyrie (Winds, Harps, Organ, Choir, Strings)
• 5:08 Gloria (Organ and timpani)
• 7:19 Credo (Full orchestra and choir)
• 19:20 Sanctus (Choirs, harp, celesta, organ, strings)
• 22:15 Agnus Dei (Full orchestra)

Premiered on Oct 8 2022 in Espoo Cathedral.
Commission by Espoo Episcopal Parish

Euphonia Iuventutis (2021)

Pleasure Garden (extracts)

Premiered 14 May 2023, Great Hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Tallinn, Estonia
Peeter Margus, violin
Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Toomas Vavilov

"Gathering Dew", my first completed concerto, searches for a unison between the pure tone of the violin and the beautiful, often mournful simplicity of Lithuanian folk music. The harmonics and open strings of the violin are gradually transformed into fragments and variations of two folk songs – “Už ežero ugnys dega” ("Behind the lake, fires are burning", about a sorrowful orphan girl) and “Laidos saulalė” ("The sun was setting", depicting a personified sun speaking to villagers harvesting rye) – after which the soloist plays both songs in their full splendor.

The meaning of the title is twofold. Inspired by the delicate qualities of morning dew, I imagined the opening of the concerto as a gradual accumulation or “gathering”, beginning from the “dewdrops” of violin harmonics and extending to the loudest point. In addition, dew (“Rasa” in Lithuanian) is a common female name in Lithuania, exemplifying the very close connection between Lithuanian culture and nature.

"Gathering Dew" is dedicated to the Lithuanian people, in appreciation of the kindness, generosity, and hospitality they have often showed during my travels in Lithuania and abroad.

"Gathering Dew", concerto for violin and orchestra

Commissioned by Justus and Elizabeth Schlichting for the 2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival

Completed May 27, 2023
Premiered July 29, 2023 as part of Bang on a Can's Loud Weekend 2023 by Todd Reynolds (cond.), Claire Litwinowicz (vln.), Santiago Velo Quintairos (vla.), Elizabeth Kate (vc.), JP Bernabe (cb.), Abrielle Scott (fl.), Anne Pinkerton (ob.), Lucas Gianini (cl.), Will Pyle (sax), Maya Stone (bsn.), Betty Chen (pno.), and Ethan Strickland (perc.)

I love watching ensembles play. There’s always so much happening at any given moment: all this cuing and tuning and listening and watching. The complicated group dynamics going on can be dizzying to keep track of, and within larger chamber ensembles, there can be such an intricate web of communication that it feels like a miracle that pieces hold together at all. 

This kind of intimate group communication happens all the time in nature, and one of the most familiar is the flock. Flocks of birds have often been written about in a near-mythological manner - the massive patterns they form and their hypnotic motion have inspired studies and superstitions alike. They can grow to be tens of thousands strong, but despite all their apparent organization, flocks do not have a solitary leader. Instead, individuals hone in on the signals of their seven closest neighbors, and they move about together. Since each neighbor will have its own seven neighbors and so on, a signal from one end of the flock eventually ripples all the way to the other. 

Of a Feather is inspired by the whirling coordination of flocks. Gestures are imitated and scattered throughout the group a la flock communication, and much of the vocabulary of the piece is filled with rushing motion. The piece is mercurial and vibrant, moving rapidly through key areas while freely expanding and contracting its motifs. Ultimately, Of a Feather is a study in ensemble communication, treating its members equally as individuals and parts of a whole.

Many thanks to Justus and Elizabeth Schlichting for commissioning the piece, and much gratitude to the fellows of the 2023 Bang on a Can Summer Festival for realizing it.

Of a Feather, for chamber ensemble

Affirmation

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)

This short concert opener was written especially for the Guildhall Chamber orchestra and Joshua Weilerstein, to open the anniversary concert marking 10 years of Milton Court Concert Hall on the 25th October 2023. This is the recording of the premiere.

Stannum, the Latin word for tin, is the customary 10th anniversary gift. Tin is an alloy, traditionally combined from silver and lead. Accordingly, the piece is something of a mixture of ideas and materials inspired by different types of celebratory music - some brash, some tender and some resolute.

Stannum

Performed by KMH Orchestra conducted by Jakob Aspenström

Held by Threads

Joel Järventausta (b. 1995) is a Finnish composer based in Finland and the United Kingdom. He has recently submitted his PhD in Composition at King’s College London, where he studied with Sir Prof. George Benjamin and Prof. Silvina Milstein, supported by the Arts & Humanities Scholarship. In the coming year, he will be working on several commissions including a choral work for Helsinki Chamber Choir, an orchestral work for Jyväskylä Sinfonia and a piano trio for Kamarikesä-festival.

In spring 2022, London Symphony Orchestra conducted by François-Xavier Roth premiered Sunfall at the Barbican in London and took the work on tour to Konzerthaus Dortmund, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Musikkens Hus Aalborg. Recent commissions include a song cycle Autumn Songs for Maria Turunen and Armaan Madar; a solo piano work Snowscapes for Allison Wang; a chamber work Pilgrim for Philharmonia Orchestra supported by Royal Philharmonic Society and commercially released by NMC Recordings in 2022; a quintet Songs of Empty Landscapes for Uusinta Ensemble; and a string quartet On Blue for Kreutzer Quartet.

In February 2019, Joel received 1st Prize in the 7th Edition of Île de Créations Composition Competition, with his piece Ripped Tapestry, which was subsequently performed several times by Orchestre national d’Île de France, conducted by Antony Hermus, including at Philharmonie de Paris. Following this, a 30-minute Composer Portrait of Joel was broadcast on France Musique. Ripped Tapestry received its Finnish premiere by Jyväskylä Sinfonia, conducted by Ruut Kiiski in September 2021.

2018 saw the premiere Massahumu (co-written with four other Finnish composers) by the Finnish National Opera orchestra and chorus, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. The piece was commissioned for Salonen’s 60th birthday concert, opening the Juhlaviikot (Helsinki Festival).

In 2017 Stonewalls for chamber orchestra was premiered by Royal Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Lars Vogt and subsequently awarded 3rd prize in their 2017 Composition Competition. Cantus for orchestra received its premiere by the RCM Philharmonic under the baton of Martin André, as the winner of the RCM Concerto Competition. Cantus also received a second performance by Bergen Philharmonic Youth Orchestra conducted by Kjell Seim at UNM Festival 2018 at Grieghallen in Bergen. Joel participated in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme Composition Course 2017 which culminated into a performance of Tumma at Aldeburgh Festival 2018.

His works so far have been performed in various venues and festivals in UK, Finland, France, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Bulgaria, Canada and USA. In 2016, Joel was granted a membership as one the youngest ever members of the Society of Finnish Composers (Suomen Säveltäjät ry). He holds a Masters in Composition with 1st class Distinction from the Royal College of Music, where he was a fully supported Scholar. He also holds a BA in Music with 1st class honours from the University of York. Joel has completed an Erasmus exchange at the Sibelius Academy in Finland, studying with Prof. Veli-Matti Puumala. In the past he has studied with Dr. Dai Fujikura, also receiving tuition from Unsuk Chin, Colin Matthews, Michael Gandolfi and Oliver Knussen. He spent his childhood in Germany and Luxembourg.
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Contact: joeljarven@gmail.com

Bells & Echoes - Joel Järventausta (2022)

Joel Jarventausta

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