Music Finland Core

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The Finnish title, Pinta ja säe, can be translated as "Surface and Phrase". My intention was to make use of - and move between - the two kinds of approaches toward musical time suggested by the title, the vertical and the linear. "Vertical music" is based on static or gradually transforming textures ("pinta"), and linear music is based on discursivity and traditional directionality, created by motives and phrases ("säe").Most immediately noticable in the piece is the centrality of timbre and harmony.© Juhani Nuorvala, 1992Pinta ja säe (Surface and Phrase), written in 1990-91, is Nuorvala's first work for full symphony orchestra, though it was preceded by a work for 20-piece chamber orchestra, Glissements progressifs du plaisir (1987), in which the instrumentation is highly orchestral at times. Be that as it may, Pinta ja säe reveals Nuorvala's considerable maturity as an orchestral composer, and it is hardly surprising that the work was awarded a Special Commendation in the Second Vienna Modern Masters Annual Recording Award Competition in 1991.For an essential description of the work one need look no further than the title itself. The texture Nuorvala has created is for the most part a multicolored, "spectral" surface formed primarily of tiny melodic cells - phrases in fact. The polarisation implied in the title does not come across therefore as an alteration of the two phenomena (except in a couple of clearly delineated places towards the end of the work), but is an expression of the dualistic nature of the work's material as a whole. The character of Pinta ja säe is probably best described as a continual oscillation between a transparent, static surface on the on hand and different degrees of 'pseudo-contrapuntal' argument on the other, formed out of melodic strands.After a dynamic opening gesture ("phrase") the first half of the piece is dominated by a shimmering textural surface verging on immobility, punctuated at times by weightier stimuli. In the Più mosso passage which follows, a melodic figure awakens and the situation drifts toward the aleatoric, only to subside once again into the prevailing atmosphere of calm, now permeated by the melodic element. Melody resurfaces in a passage leading to the climax in the Allegro assai section. Note repetitions appear within the textural mass and these eventually alternate with the melodic material through the work's most dramatic moments. Another aleatoric section, this time formed of downward arpeggio figures, leads to an enigmatically ambiguous conclusion.Looked at this light, Pinta ja säe can be viewed as one possible synthesis in that gamut of rhythmically accentuated minimalism and plastically suspended 'spectral music', which has been the domain of Juhani Nuorvala's music to date.© Jouni Kaipainen, 1994translated by © Andrew Bentley

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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