Midnight Sun Variations

by Outi Tarkiainen

Description

This work for orchestra is a set of variations on the light when the sun never sets in the arctic summer night. For the northern sky above the Arctic Circle in summer reflects a rich spectrum of infinitely-nuanced hues that, as autumn draws near, become veiled in shadow until darkness slowly descends and the sun ceases to rise above the horizon. My son was born on the night when the summer’s last warm day gave way to a dawn shrouded in autumnal mist. Midnight Sun Variations is also about giving birth to new life, when the woman and the child within her part, restoring her former self as the light fades into winter.

- Outi Tarkiainen

Instrumentation

3333 4321 13 1, cel (pno), str

Category

Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble

Premiere

BBC Philharmonic, cond. John Storgårds at the BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London on August 4, 2019

Commisioned by / dedications

Commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic and The National Arts Centre Orchestra

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