Music Finland Core

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The string quartet, throughout its long and weighty history, has been perhaps the most abstract, intimate genre of all, inviting composers of all aesthetic leanings to confess their most oblique thoughts, and to experiment with abandon. Such is the case here, with this compact, inward third quartet, conceived in tandem with its mirror twin, my more extroverted second. The two pieces, while quite different in tone and temperament, share strands of musical DNA, a certain fragmentary nature, as well as a technical concern with repetition and pulse, and the lyricism to be found therein.The main pulse device used here is polyrhythm, the layering of asynchronous beats that I find the string quartet particularly well suited to. The opening wavelike gestures of non-aligned, legato rocking figures give way to lines of repeated pulses, which are gradually surrounded by other independent pulses, forming waves of their own. These passages crest and recede, their bright diatonicism periodically clouding over in interludes of more rhetorical music, and coming to rest about halfway through in a pool of still, reflective chords. The pulsations invariably resume, though, carrying the music off again.The title Strange Geography alludes in part to my relationship with the quartet genre: not being a string player, the ensemble has always felt somewhat like terra incognita. It also describes the tone of the piece: tentative, exploratory, only sporadically assertive, never quite sure of, nor particularly concerned with a final destination – much like my own path through the material. Lastly, it touches on my hiking hobby, with the pulsed music in my mind representing the trail – continuous, sometimes jagged, goal-directed in principle but more about the here-and-now – and the more chromatic interruptions like some geological formation seen initially from a distance, and gradually approached. All belong to the same landscape, but serve different functions in relation to the viewer: one is traveled, the other merely visited in passing. In the end what remains is the trail, stretching onward past any arbitrary stopping point, and the wistful urge to just keep walking.

Year of composing

Arranger

Movements

Availability

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