Music Finland Core

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The title of my viola concerto is paraphrased from a personal letter of the psychoanalyst Carl Jung, referring to a need for introspection, to discover the hidden wellspring which gives rise to creativity in order that one's "voice" might sing forth. Such introspection, wrote Jung, requires taking heed of one's surroundings, listening to the outer world and responding to it. At the same time, Jung writes of the importance of organizing one's outer life practically, such that this voice might be heard and carry weight, the creation of opportunities to say urgent things. I find this idea of giving voice-vs.-listening corresponds neatly with the soloist-orchestra relationship in the instrumental concerto, and indeed, with the very idea of being commissioned to write a large public statement for orchestra. The theme also touches on my preoccupation with nature and the place of humanity – and our art ¬– within it.Nature in art is a tricky subject. Western art on the whole tends to be more reflective of human emotional responses toward our environment than of the "truth" of the natural world, nature-as-mirror rather than nature-as-nature. This is the reason I much prefer Asian nature art forms like Japanese ink brush drawing (sumi-e), as well as Western painters like Van Gogh, Turner and Canada's Group of Seven. Such work portrays the natural world as distant, wild, overarching, both timeless and evanescent, any subjective beauty it may possess being an ephemeral construct of the beholder's mind – a style of "art-as-listening", if you will. The tension between singing and the humbler, ritual act of listening – and the simultaneous turning inward and being drawn outward inherent in both acts– characterizes the interplay between the soloist and the orchestra in The heaven that dwells so deep. ("A journey out is a journey in," wrote the American naturalist John Muir.) The formal layout, a long, episodic single movement, is non-traditional, and the viola part is predominantly lyrical rather than overtly virtuosic, but the piece remains to me a true concerto in placing most of the weight of the narrative on the soloist. I do admit, though, that in my long-held interest in the concerto form, I have always been less fascinated with the traditional rhetorical conflict between the individual and the collective than with the idea of the soloist as a lone wanderer in search of its place in the wider continuum. The viola, then, with its muted, ruminating, almost human-sounding timbre, seemed like the perfect vehicle for a piece dealing with the idea of "voice".The soloist ventures forth at the outset with a querying, searching melody, as if singing itself into being. The orchestra echoes it, absorbing its song and weaving a landscape of shadows and half-light through which the viola roams, projecting its musings on the opening theme. On occasion the landscape turns threatening, overwhelming the viola when its ruminations become too obsessive or self-centered, forcing it into a more contemplative position in a series of freer, cadenza-like passages, often accompanied by gentle, windchime-like music. At several points, a didjereedoo emerges from beneath as a kind of vox terrae – the continuum of nature made audible – grounding the viola with its primal sound. A balance is gradually struck as the soloist learns to listen, and the orchestra's own voices come alive. Following an intense unison climax, the orchestra begins a final song, hinted at in the initial theme as a seed present from the beginning, but only now finally accepted by the soloist. The viola draws together the various thematic strands and sonic groups in a triumphant chorus, then steps out laterally, as it were, leaving melody behind and dissolving itself into the shimmering sounds of the orchestra, as if prepared to go forth into the world in a more pure, whole state. The heaven that dwells so deep was commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE), and its composition was facilitated by grants from the Finnish Cultural Fund and the Sibelius Fund of the Finnish Composers' Society.

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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