INSTRUMENTATION
alto saxophone (or clarinet in Bb), piano, violin, viola, cello
DURATION
ca. 17′
COMMISSIONER
Uusinta Ensemble, with support from Teosto
PUBLISHER


PROGRAMME NOTE
This work was inspired by Bruce Percy’s minimalist nature photography. These photographs depict a variety of ‘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, empty landscapes evoke. Each movement is a piece of its own providing a window into one landscape, yet musical material is shared throughout the whole work.

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.

PERFORMANCES
10 DECEMBER 2022
Uusinta Ensemble
Musiikkitalo, Helsinki, Finland

28 AUGUST 2020 (✦ World premiere)
Uusinta Ensemble
Tampere Biennale Festival, Puistotorni, Finland

SCORE VIDEO

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REVIEWS