Photos from the performance and rehearsals taken by © Maarit Kytöharju

Last week, on Friday 4. August 2023, I had the pleasure to hear three excellent musicians – Abel Puustinen (violin), Klaara Vasara (clarinet) and Ossi Tanner (piano) – give the world premiere of my trio Bells & Echoes as part of the Kamarikesä-festival in the Finnish House of Nobility in Helsinki.

In summer 2022, I came across a pencil and watercolour study, Hävitys, by the famous Finnish painter Akseli Gallen-Kallela in Nina Kokkinen‘s intriguing book, Totuudenetsijät (Truthseekers). Gallen-Kallela’s study depicts a fallen church bell partially covered in ash and earth, against a dark red, apocalyptic backdrop. When looking at this painted scene, I could almost hear the echoes of the once-glorious bell in my mind. And so, the sound world of my own work began to develop.

The piece is structured into three pairs of bells/echo-movements, totalling six movements and about 20 minutes of music. The more melodic and harmonious ‘bells’ – the 1st, 3rd and 5th movements – contain some bell-like sonorities and motifs (also much more!) and the slightly more abstract, gestural ‘echoes’ – the 2nd, 4th and 6th movements – borrow and re-invent material from their counterparts.

In the music, I sought to find common sonic ground between the instruments, while also giving each player material that felt soloistic, yet in tight dialogue with the other players (in keeping with the collaborative effort that is chamber music). Sometimes when writing for a small ensemble I find it tempting to try and give each instrument something to play at all times (‘if they’re there, why not give them music to play?‘). However, this can so quickly end up in textural business, which can be rather tiring to the ear, and concentration. I tried not to not give in to this temptation, and to give space and time for different sonorities, colours and melodies to speak, and thus let the music breathe. This seemed to come across, according to a few audience members. The most extreme example of textural sparseness comes in the 3rd movement of the work (Bells II), which begins with a 3-minute clarinet solo. I had not written extensively for the clarinet before, so this seemed a great opportunity to do so. In fact, after hearing Klaara’s breathtaking interpretation of this solo, I am quite intrigued by the idea of tackling a clarinet concerto one day.

Played with detail, energy and sensitivity, Abel, Klaara and Ossi together brought to the surface a sonorous warmth and a cool nocturnal quality. It’s always such a joy to work with people who give their all to your music and I hope to get to work together again, sooner rather than later.

The generously resonant acoustic of the tall, mid-1800s room served the small-scale chamber concert beautifully. As if being surrounded by hundreds of colourful coats of arms lit by chandeliers, and raindrops gently hitting the windows behind us was not atmospheric enough.

Despite struggling with unusually persistent creative blocks, and running into constant dead-ends while writing this work, after hearing such a dedicated performance and receiving a warm reception, I left the concert elated, relieved and reminded of author Kent Nerburn‘s words which I have pinned above my desk: ‘Art is a spiritual pursuit / It is wrestling with the angels / It is dancing with the gods.’

You can watch/listen to Bells & Echoes here:

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