Music Finland Core

* Title

Additional title

Description

HUSH is written for the trumpet player Verneri Pohjola, whose rich musical background and taste for extended techniques, experimentation, and improvisation have inspired me. During the writing of this piece, we have met on a regular basis, and Verneri has enlightened me as to the technical possibilities of the trumpet. Each concerto is in a way a portrait of the soloist for whom it was written, and so this one is his. As the solo trumpet played an important part in my violin concerto Graal Théâtre (1994), which was my first concerto, I was drawn to revisiting that material in what is to be my last concerto. I was also inspired by another kind of revisitation: Aleksi Barrière’s text Not a Knight, written in 2018 to be spoken around and inside Graal Théâtre as a form of illuminated marginalia to the music. The titles of HUSH and of its four movements come from this text, where the Grail legends resonate as a personal and collective quest of making music, and leaving an imprint into the silence. The first movement, “Let the thin air sing”, is an exposition that presents most of the material, including the title word ‘hush’. Starting from a low A-flat, it moves upwards to the higher register. The second movement, “Dream of falling” explores glissandi of the solo trumpet, alone and in association with various sections of the orchestra, from the piccolos to the double basses, ending with a low B growl that is one of the trumpet’s lowest sounds. (This was workshopped with Verneri improvising on the idea of a sound falling down the sides of a well.) The third movement, “What ails you?”, is dramatic but cold, insofar that I refrained from using any accelerandi and rallentandi, and the rhythm stays strictly mechanical. This maddening rhythm was inspired by the monthly scans I underwent in MRI machines during my illness. The last movement “Ink the silence” is an accompanied trumpet solo moving forward through an orchestral landscape. When the movement stops, we understand that it was the landscape that was moving and not the traveller, and we peek beyond the façade of illusions, into a silence that we have loaded with memories. I am indebted to the assistance I have received from Nastaran Yazdani and Anssi Karttunen in notating music when my illness impaired my motor skills. The support of many people has been instrumental to the making of this piece, and I have dedicated individual movements to them: Verneri Pohjola, my husband Jean-Baptiste Barrière, and my doctors Dimitri Psimaras and Myriam Kirstetter. The piece in its entirety is dedicated to the family I leave behind on my own journey to silence. - Kaija Saariaho, March 2023

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

Hush