Music Finland Core

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Engine was principally composed in the spring of 1996, but its origins go back to the summer of 1995. The work was a joint commission from the London Sinfonietta, Aldeburgh Festival and South Bank Centre. The premiere took place on the 21 June 1996 at the Aldeburgh Festival given by the London Sinfonietta under Markus Stenz. The duration of the work is around 20'.The title of this piece is inspired by the computing language associated with using the Patchwork 1) programme in accordance with constraint procedures: "engine" is a sort of generator of musical material, which operates according to the rules pre-established by the composer. The texture is composed by the machine, on which the composer imposes dozens of constraints 2). The computer then produces suggestions, which the composer then treats like any other musical material. The rules are melodic and harmonic, and the resulting textures are closer to the brutal sonorities of Kraft (1983-1985) or UR (1986) than the harmonic surfaces of Corrente (1991-2), Aura (1993-94) or Arena (1995). Engine is also a farewell to the "stravinskyian" neo-classicism of Coyote Blues (1993).Engine fits into the logic of Lindberg's production. At the beginning of the 80s the young composer was in search of timbres and was influenced by Pierre Schaeffer's classifications (Traité des objets musicaux); in other words he began to make "musique concrète" with instruments, as in Action-situation-signification (1982). Then, with his great work Kraft, Lindberg began to be interested in rhythm and attempted to organise its formal principles. With the orchestral trilogy Kinetics (1988-89), Marea (1989-90) and Joy (1989-90), a new type of harmonic thinking appears, influenced by the spectral analysis of sound. At the beginning of the 90s, with Corrente, Arena and Aura - a synthesis of the development of the 80s - the composer has recovered his skill in creating textures which "sound good", while including an idea of continuums. The instrumental gesture gives way to continual strata. But Engine proves the consequential nature of Lindberg's musical language; not only does it fit into the continuity of his last works, but it also refers us back, with this friction which breaks up the surface of sound, to the "brutiste" works like UR and Kraft.Engine brings counterpoint back up to date in Lindberg's musical vocabulary, a counterpoint which allows the music to live in symbiosis with the rules and constraints imposed by the composer. The reason he uses constraint machines is that he wants to find solutions enabling him to avoid the mannerisms of his own style. For the composer, establishing constraints also means analysing and decomposing his style into rules, in order to master it better.© Risto Nieminen, 1997(translated by © Nick Le Quesne)(with the permission of Chester Music Ltd.)1) Patchwork is a computer-assisted composition programme, designed by Mikael Laurson and developed at IRCAM by IRCAM's Musical Representations team, under the leadership of Gérard Assayag.2) Similar procedures have already been employed at IRCAM by Camillo Rueda, who collaborated with the composer Antoine Bonnet using Situation software.Engine a été composée principalement au printemps 1996, mais sa conception remonte à l’été 1995. L’oeuvre est une commande du Festival D’Aldeburgh du South Bank Centre et du London Sinfonietta. Ce dernier l’a créée le 21 juin 1996 au Festival d’Aldeburgh en Grande-Bretagne, sous la direction de Markus Stenz.Le titre de cette pièce est inspiré du langage informatique lié à l’utilisation du logiciel Patchwork selon les principes de contraintes: “engine” est une sorte de générateur de matériau musical, qui fonctionne à partir de règles prédéfinies par le compositeur. La texture est composée par la machine, à laquelle le compositeur impose des dizaines de contraintes. L’ordinateur produit alors des propositions, que le compositeur traite ensuite comme n’importe quel matériau musical. Les règles sont d’ordre mélodique et harmonique, et les textures en résultant sont plus proches des sonorités brutales de Kraft (1983–1985) ou UR (1986) au des surfaces harmoniques de Corrente (1991–1992), Aura (1993–1994) ou encore de Arena. D’autre part, Engine est un adieu au néoclassisme “stravinskyen” de Coyote Blues (1993).Engine s’inscrit dans la logique de la production lindberggienne. Au début des années 80, le jeune compositeur est en quête de timbre et s’inspire des classifications de Pierre Schaeffer (Traité des objets musicaux), c’est-à-dire faire de la musique concrète avec des instruments, comme dans Action–situation–signification (1982). Ensuite, avec sa grande oeuvre Kraft, Lindberg s’intéresse au rythme et cherche à organiser ses principes formels. Avec la trilogie orchestrale Kinetics (1988–1989), Marea (1989–1990) et Joy (1989–1990), apparaît une nouvelle pensée harmonique, influencée par l’analyse spectrale du son. Au début des années 90, avec Corrente, Arena, en passant par Aura, une synthèse du développement des années 80, le compositeur retrouve son habileté à créer des textures qui “sonnent bien” en y intégrant une idée de continuums. Le geste instrumental cède la place aux strates continuelles. Cependant, Engine prouve comment le développement du langage musical de Lindberg est conséquent; non seulement, elle se situe dans la continuité de ses dernières couvres, mais renvoie également, avec cette friction qui casse la surface sonore, aux oeuvres “bruitistes” comme UR et Kraft. Engine rend d’actualité le contrepoint dans le vocabulaire de Lindberg, un contrepoint qui fait vivre la musique en symbiose avec les règles, les contraintes que s’impose le compositeur. La raison pour laquelle il utilise des machines à contraintes est qu’il veut trouver des solutions afin d’éviter les maniérismes de son propre style. Construire des contraintes, cela signifie également pour le compositeur analyser, décomposer son style en règles pour mieux le maîtriser.Début d’une nouvelle étape dans le développement de son parcours compositionnel, Magnus Lindberg considère Engine comme un work in progress qui peut connaître d’autres stratifications dans les années à venir.© Risto Nieminen, 1997(Ars Musica, Bruxelles)

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Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin