Elollinen - Second Doctoral Concert
It is finally happening.
The “Elollinen” concert program was conceived in spring 2019 with the goal to experiment with the versatility and adaptability of contemporary compositions to be performed in non-traditional concert spaces, and to design a program specifically for a place. I chose Talvipuutarha Winter Garden because, in addition to being one of my favorite places in Helsinki, it offered a great opportunity for an environment-led musical performance. Each of the three rooms of the garden have different acoustics, different background noises, and the potential for different spatial relationships between audience and performer. I chose works for clarinet and bass clarinet with limited instrumentation, including chamber works with only flute, cello and violin. The works I chose were included for their narrative, acoustic, and instrumental qualities to form a cohesive program in an unusual concert space.
The name “Elollinen” refers to both the living, organic quality of contemporary music as well as the natural environment of the botanic gardens. In the last six months, “Elollinen” has taken on a new meaning for me - ‘living’ as changeable, flexible, adaptable. The world is a very different place than when this concert was planned over a year ago. This concert has changed, first it was postponed from April to September. Most recently, it had to be moved from Talvipuutarha to the Helsinki Music Center less than a month before the concert was to occur. These changes force adaption, as preparations and rehearsals are put on hold and resumed on a new time frame. Unexpectedly, the changes have also fostered a different creativity, as new problems require new solutions. Quite like the creativity required to translate and perform new music compositions.
I am grateful that this concert can be performed, even if it is in a different form than originally designed. In another unintentional form of ‘elollinen’, this concert is being performed in the same concert hall where I held my first doctoral concert almost two years ago. An organic cycle - bringing my doctoral research back to Organo - but with a different artistic intent, and myself a different artist than I was two years ago. With my first commission/premiere of the project, and the first inclusion of bass clarinet, I am becoming more aware of the strong sense of shared-ownership in the performance of contemporary music, and the freedom of creativity it promotes.
Program
Mason Bates Life of Birds (2008) 12’
I. Moving Parts
II. Parakeet Daydream
III. The Caged Bird Sings
IV. On a Wire: Mating Dance
V. Old World Fly Catcher
VI. Moving Parts
Iryna Gorkun-Silén, flute
Sebastian Silén, violin
Iida-Vilhelmiina Sinivalo, cello
Augusta Read Thomas Capricci ‘Hummingbird Romance’ (2011) 6’
Iryna Gorkun-Silén, flute
Jack Hughes Ripple, Reflected for clarinet and fixed media (2019) 7’
*World Premiere
Kaija Saariaho Oi Kuu (1990) 6’
Iida-Vilhelmiina Sinivalo, cello
Nina Young Creeping Ivy (2013) 4’
Iryna Gorkun-Silén, flute
Ville Raasakka Everyday Etudes No. 1: Garden (2015) 6’
Ville Raasakka, object player
Lotta Wennäkoski Limn (2002) 8’
Jukka Tiensuu Plus II (1992) 10’
Iida-Vilhelmiina Sinivalo, cello