Music Finland Core

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“One fundamental structural feature of this organ composition is a 
ninetone synthetic scale formed from increasing intervals and their 
inversions; this scale appears transposed in all the twelve tones of the
 chromatic scale. Scales are used in the initial part of the work as 
segments of varying size, in which the tonal sequence is free. In their 
‘orbits’ the scales do not remain wholly unchanged but undergo 
occasional transformations, to embrace the sequences of, for example, 
the chromatic, whole-tone and, occuring simultaneously, pentatonic and 
Dorian scales.“The special instrumental feature of the organ, the
 pedal, has been employed after the manner of cantus firmus as a binding
 element in virtuoso toccata passages, above which the manuals build up 
variations. They develop toward a culmination requiring skilful 
execution, followed by a scherzolike section leading to a tranquil 
epilogue, the final section, which contains a musical interpretation of 
every constellation in the zodiac. This has been achieved by applying a 
modified tone-row technique and Hallwag’s astronomical map. The 
constellations form in turn large and small groups of tones, from which 
there emerges an ascending cluster field transposed into the tones of 
the synthetic scale. The constellations move imbricately in such a way 
that the sift from one constellation to the next is not easily 
perceived. The transition might be characterized by, for example, 
imagining a person’s gaze shifting from one constellation to another in a
 clear, starry night sky.”© Harri Viitanen

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Ekliptika