Matthew Whittall
Born in Canada, Matthew Whittall found his way to Finland in search of musical freedom and nature. The natural environment is a scarlet thread in his output, which includes a massive collection of piano preludes entitled Leaves of Grass after the poetry collection by Walt Whitman. His artistically oriented doctorate was on the idea of nature in Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. “Accessible without being banal” was the verdict on his musical idiom when in 2013 he received the distinguished Teosto Prize for his work Dulcissima clara sonans, based on the visions of Hildegard of Bingen.
Whittall’s music is marked by an attempt to fuse its various disparate influences – Old and New World, Western and non-Western, sacred and secular, classical, folk and popular – into a single, variegated expressive language, and by a use of extramusical imagery ranging from natural phenomena to poetry and landscape art.
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| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Category | Duration | Available from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aattoilta | chx | 2016 | Vocal and Choral Works | 03:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
A Cradle Song | chx [SSAATTBB] | Vocal and Choral Works | 00:00 | Sulasol | |
ad puram annihilationem meam | chx [perc] | 2008 | Vocal and Choral Works | 20:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
A fragile peace | bass clarinet, 2 scordatura guitars (1 player) | 2013 | Chamber Works | 20:00 | |
All around... dancing | org | 2007 | Works for Solo Instrument | 02:00 | Music Finland |
Amor, el mar, y la noche | Female voice, viola da gamba | 2013 | Vocal and Choral Works | 15:00 | |
Anthem | 3 horns, digital delay | 2007 | Chamber Works | 02:30 | |
Anthem II | 4hn | 2009 | Chamber Works | 02:30 | Music Finland |
A Postcard from Buenos Aires | violin and piano (a), violin, cello and piano (b, arrangement for Szábo Trio) | Chamber Works | 10:00 | ||
Archipelago | guit ensemble | 2015 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 10:00 | |
A river to fill the silence | violin and piano | 2002 | Chamber Works | 25:00 | |
Ash-Wednesday | fl, pno [fl+afl] | Chamber Works | 18:00 | Music Finland | |
As one listens to the rain | chx [SSAATTBB] | 2003 | Vocal and Choral Works | 04:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
A world only dreamed | afl, vla, mezzo, kantele | 2010 | Chamber Works, Vocal and Choral Works | 09:00 | |
being the pine tree | acc | 2007 | Works for Solo Instrument | 13:00 | Music Finland |
Bright Ferment | 2vln, vla, vlc | 2019 | Chamber Works | 09:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Christmas Hath a Darkness | chx | 2016 | Vocal and Choral Works | 16:30 | Fennica Gehrman |
Devil's Gate | ob, bsn, pno | 2015 | Chamber Works | 12:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
double|entendre | 2guit | 2015 | Chamber Works | 07:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Downtown Wedding | 2(2nd doubling piccolo)222/2221/00/0 | 2005 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 02:00 | |
Du kröner året | Mixed chorus SSAATTBB | 2010 | Vocal and Choral Works | 04:00 | |
Dulcissima, clara, sonans | 3333 4331 04 1, cimbalom, str, sopr solo | 2011 | Vocal and Choral Works, Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 25:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Event Horizons | asax, pno | 1998 | Chamber Works | 22:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Five Windows on Winter | kantele solo, str | 2018 | Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 23:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
From the edge of mist | vlc | 1999 | Works for Solo Instrument | 00:00 | Music Finland |
Giverny | ob, pno | 2013 | Chamber Works | 10:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Hiljaisuus puhuu | 4444 6441 13 2, str (16-14-12-10-8) | 2022 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 14:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Hors d'oeuvre | piano | 2011 | Works for Solo Instrument | 01:00 | |
Huron Carol | chx | 2014 | Vocal and Choral Works | 03:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
In the bleak mid-winter | chx, sopr solo [SSATBB] | 2007 | Vocal and Choral Works | 00:00 | Sulasol |
Jabberwocky | Mixed choir (multiple divisi) | 2013 | Vocal and Choral Works | 10:00 | |
January | fl, ob, cl, bsn, hn | 2023 | Chamber Works | 07:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Joy | 3222 4331 13 1, org, str | 2024 | Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 21:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Kaksi paimenlaulua (Two Herding Songs) | Mixed chorus SSATBarB | 2012 | Vocal and Choral Works | 00:00 | Sulasol |
Lauantaisauna | chx | 2017 | Vocal and Choral Works | 04:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Leaves of Grass | pno | 2005 | Works for Solo Instrument | 00:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Leaves of Grass, Book I | piano | 2005 | Works for Solo Instrument | 15:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Leaves of Grass, Book II | piano | 2009 | Works for Solo Instrument | 16:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Leaves of Grass, Book III | piano | 2009 | Works for Solo Instrument | 22:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Love is a place | chx | 2015 | Vocal and Choral Works | 07:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Love is little | chx | 2009 | Vocal and Choral Works | 09:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Mémoires de Bilitis | mezzo, kantele | 2014 | Vocal and Choral Works | 17:00 | |
Nameless Seas | 3222 4221 13 1, str, pno solo | 2017 | Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 00:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Negative space | fl, cl, bsn, hp, 2vln, vla, vlc, db | 2011 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 15:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Night Passages | baritone and piano | 1997 | Vocal and Choral Works | 15:00 | |
Night, sleep, death and the stars | fl+afl+pic+bfl, hp | 2008 | Chamber Works | 19:00 | Music Finland |
Northlands | str, hn solo [min str: 55432] | 2009 | Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 25:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Nothing but the wind | Women's chorus SA (multiple divisi) | 2013 | Vocal and Choral Works | 10:00 | |
Nuit blanche | 2222 4230 12 1, pno+synth, str, vln solo [pic, ehn, bcl, str:12-10-8-6-4) | Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 14:00 | Music Finland | |
Of aspens, hills, and shattered dreams | 3333 4331 13 1, pno,str [3.fl+pic, ehn, bcl, dbsn, btrb] | 2001 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 15:00 | Music Finland |
O night! | Massed SATB choirs, organ | 2008 | Vocal and Choral Works | 10:00 | |
Paysages abstraits | pno | 2012 | Works for Solo Instrument | 08:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
pine tree, dreaming | 2vln, 2vla, 2vlc | 2008 | Chamber Works | 00:00 | Music Finland |
Points of attraction | vln, hn, pno | 2007 | Chamber Works | 12:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Rain/Fall | pno | 2003 | Works for Solo Instrument | 00:00 | Music Finland |
Resonance Orbits | fl+pic+afl+bfl, cl+bcl, trb, elg, perc, pno, vln, vla, vlc, db | 2019 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 20:00 | |
(sfinksi) | Contralto voice & flute (single performer) | 2008 | Vocal and Choral Works, Works for Solo Instrument | 04:00 | |
Shiki (Four seasons) | chx | 2006 | Vocal and Choral Works | 30:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Sion, prisa din Gud | Mixed chorus SSAATTBB | 2010 | Vocal and Choral Works | 03:00 | |
Sketches before a storm | fl, kantele | 2006 | Chamber Works | 00:00 | Music Finland |
Snow, and the scent of fallen leaves (Elegy-fragment) | melody instrument and harmonic accompaniment | 2012 | Chamber Works | 05:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Snowdrops | chx (SSAATTBB) | 2023 | Vocal and Choral Works | 10:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Solace | pno | 2020 | Works for Solo Instrument | 30:00 | |
Solen | 3333 4331 13 1, pno, str [3.fl+pic, 3. ob+ehn, 3bsn+cbsn, trp+pictrp, btrb] | 2006 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 13:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Songs of Travel | chx (SSAATTBB) | 2021 | Vocal and Choral Works | 30:00 | |
Spindrift | hp, pno | 2015 | Chamber Works | 10:00 | Music Finland |
Stjärnenatten | chm | 2017 | Vocal and Choral Works | 10:00 | |
Strange Geography | 2vln, vla, vlc | 2019 | Chamber Works | 10:30 | |
String Quartet no. 1 | 1999 | Chamber Works | 27:00 | ||
Suizen | bfl | 2016 | Works for Solo Instrument | 13:00 | |
The Architecture of Happiness | 3333 4331 13 1, pno, str [pic, cbsn] | 2014 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 20:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
The City in the Sea | afl, vla, hp | 2017 | Chamber Works | 14:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
The Geography of Hope | chx (SSAATTBB) | 2021 | Vocal and Choral Works | 10:00 | |
The heaven that dwells so deep | 3223 4231 14 1, didgeridoo, pno, str, vla solo [pic, afl, ehn, bcl, cbsn, pic trp] | 2010 | Works for Soloist(s) and Orchestra | 34:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
The light of day | vln, pno | 2012 | Chamber Works | 10:00 | Music Finland |
The night more alive | fl, vla, vibr, hp | 2004 | Chamber Works | 00:00 | Music Finland |
The Return of Light | 2222 2200 01 pno, str, chx [2pic] | 2015 | Vocal and Choral Works, Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 25:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
These Things Remain | 2222 4331 12 0, str, baryt solo, chx [pic, cbsn] | 2019 | Vocal and Choral Works, Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 14:00 | |
The Short Road to Nirvana | 3333 4331 13 1, pno, str [pic, ehn, 2bcl, dbsn, btrb] | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 00:00 | Music Finland | |
The Snow Watcher | Estonian kannel | 2002 | Works for Solo Instrument | 07:00 | |
The sobbing of the bells | piano (offstage) | 2011 | Works for Solo Instrument | 00:00 | |
The violet and the vine | gamba [bass viol], cemb | 2016 | Chamber Works | 12:00 | |
The wine-dark sea | 2guit [baroque guit, theorbo] | 2008 | Chamber Works | 00:00 | Music Finland |
The wine-dark sea II | kantele | 2011 | Works for Solo Instrument | 10:00 | Music Finland |
The wine-dark sea III | brec, theorbo | 2013 | Chamber Works | 12:00 | |
The wine-dark sea IV | guit, cemb | 2014 | Chamber Works | 14:00 | |
The wine-dark sea V | pno | 2013 | Works for Solo Instrument | 14:00 | Music Finland |
The wine-dark sea VI | guitar ensemble | 2014 | Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble | 14:00 | Music Finland |
To break the winter cold | pno | 2001 | Works for Solo Instrument | 13:00 | Music Finland |
Två Psalmer | chx | 2009 | Vocal and Choral Works | 00:00 | Sulasol |
Two Moods | fl, cl | 2022 | Chamber Works | 02:20 | |
Two Songs | mezzo-soprano and piano | 1998 | Vocal and Choral Works | 05:00 | |
Ume | guit | 2013 | Works for Solo Instrument | 00:00 | Music Finland |
Valse no. 7 | pno | 2014 | Works for Solo Instrument | 03:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
voice of the hidden waterfall | cl, pno | 2017 | Chamber Works | 07:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
Waiting to hear | vln, pno | 2022 | Chamber Works | 07:00 | Fennica Gehrman |
where rain ends… …begins the sky | vln, vlc, pno | 2019 | Chamber Works | 18:00 | |
Windflower | hp | 2020 | Works for Solo Instrument | 11:00 |