Music Finland Core

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First ideas for my new work Seeds of Time came in Autumn 2002, when Hannu Lintu proposed me to write a piano concerto. My first concern was how to add my own fingerprint to the continuum of the tradition. An idea of a great virtuoso struggling against the orchestra like an individual against society felt unfamiliar, although this is a central idea in many concertos (in Elliot Carter’s, for example). Thus it was quite clear from the beginning that I would divide the orchestra in smaller groups and separate a group of soloists from the orchestra. In addition to Solo Piano, also Clarinet/Bass clarinet, Trumpet, Timpani and Violin have solo parts. Each instrument has its own prominent section in the work. There are three larger ensembles in the piece: ”Chamber Orchestra”, Double Septet and Triple Trio. In addition to these ensembles and soloists there are also various groups and some of them fuse into the Chamber Orchestra as the work proceeds.Due to this structural decision there is no actual Tutti on the whole piece. As to instrumentation, the work has seven sections. The first of them contains all ensembles. Step by step the orchestration gets thinner and in the end there is only Solo Piano, Timpani and a Triple Trio consisting of three bassoons, trombones and violas. Solo Piano is playing almost without interruption but the role of the Soloist changes. In the beginning of the piece Piano part is only a tiny component of a textural chaff but it’s role comes clearer. The most virtuosic sections are in the middle of the piece. The work is played without interruption but it is however divided in several sections. For the listener the division in two is perhaps the most obvious. Nevertheless, I have divided the work in three parts which all have descriptive titles. The first two, ”Turba” and ”Premura” are fast, the last ”Il Braccio della Notte” is slow. The first part Turba lasts about one fifth of the total duration of the piece and the title refers to a mental of physical disorder. Music is very atomistic, frgamentary and discontinual. The title of the next part, Premura, refers to haste and hurry but also to attentiveness. The music is based on almost unbreaken flow of sixteenth-note movement. The musical figures grow larger than in the first movement. The duration of the second part is about one third of the total duration. The continuous movement stops in the third movement Il Braccio della Notte, The Arms of the Night. The character of the music is more concentrated and the tones get softer. The three-part form described above is interrupted by stationary images which are like window frames from where it is possible to peer to another time, to a time that does not move but simply is. I think everyone has thought about a possibility to stop in the middle of all rush. At the same time these windows try to question the necessity of dynamic conception of form. Many of us suffer from a constant lack of time. This work wants to speak for time-out. What are Seeds of Time? The dimensions of musical time and its relations to our everyday life have begin to interest me more and more. Are those seeds audible in the small shivers in the beginning of the work, or are they hidden in the extremely slow images that break the flow of movement?© Veli-Matti Puumala

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Movements

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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