Music Finland Core

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I had the idea for Solen in 2001, if in an abstract way, during my first trans-Atlantic flight in many years, leaving Canada for my adopted Finland. Specifically, I was captivated by the phenomenon of a very short night resulting from taking off at sunset and flying east toward the dawn. There was great poetic power in suddenly encountering the sun face-on, after having it at my back what seemed like only moments earlier.Two years later, the composition was spurred on by the experience of seeing different versions of Edvard Munch's 1911 mural Solen (The Sun) in Oslo, including the artist's early sketches for the painting. I found its dazzling sunbeams and vivid primary colors breathtaking, something I later tried to capture in the clashing, diatonic chordal sonorities and coruscating surface patterns of the music. I also loved his painting right to the edge of the frame, making the rays from the central sunburst appear to reach beyond the physical border of the image.The shape of Solen eventually grew out of these visual ideas, starting with a burst of sound, like a vast machine gathering energy, lifting off, and slowly ascending through alternating strata of activity and stasis toward a distant, crystalline point, then gradually returning to the opening music. The rapid succession of harmonic gates through which the music passes functions as a gaining of musical altitude, constantly spinning the sound materials in new directions on the way toward the central climax, a huge spectrum based on C major – a chord that, at least to me, has always sounded and felt like direct sunlight.I'd had an inkling on that first trip that I was leaving my homeland for a very long time. During the long process of conceptualizing Solen, and the short period of composing it, I clearly remembered the excitement I had felt at the time, chasing that sunrise toward my new home. Notions of flight and sun were accompanied at the back of my mind by thoughts of travel and discovery, which I suppose lent the music a bright, optimistic tone, as well as a forward momentum I tried to preserve, even in sections of relative stillness where the engines are switched off and the music is allowed to glide under its own power. One of the things I most admire about Munch and other painters, like Van Gogh, is their way of integrating the texture of their canvas or backing material into the final work, rather than simply using it as a surface to hold up the paint. Following this idea, the orchestra of Solen at one point crosses over the border between music and noise, as if to make audible the rushing wind outside the machine.Although quite irrelevant to the listening experience, it occurred to me early on as I played with materials that I was writing a fairly rigorously structured twelve-tone piece, albeit in a minimalist, essentially tonal North American way. Having only recently developed some sense of comfort working in the border regions between many cultures – national, linguistic and aesthetic – I found this realization highly satisfying, and thereafter did my best to forget it.© Matthew Whittall

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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