Description

POSIBLE, for Brass Ensemble, is written for players who have the courage not
only to play their instruments, but also to use their own voices as instruments. Along with conventional notation, there are words and phonetic forms to be
expressed with clear and precise emotional intention. It`s not a question of singing, but rather talking, whispering and shouting - acting in a sense. At such moments I use special noteheads on staves without clefs.The positioning
of these noteheads does not indicate precise pitches; however, I do make tentative
suggestions as to the directions in which the human voices should move. Most
important are the rhythmic shapes, as well as the tempos, the nuances and
particularly the vocal character.

The words are in Spanish and in German: "No posible" (not possible), "Posible!"
(possible), "Wissenschaftlich" (scientific), "No" (no), "Nein!" (no!) and "Si" (yes). Besides those words I ask the players to pronounce certain phonetic forms which
either imitate the instruments (ta-te-tu-ta-ti etc.) or express emotions, like
astonishment (Haa) or admiration (Oo!).

When composing this piece, I was thinking about our confidence, and lack of
confidence, in the face of science and the mystery of life. During each century we
have trusted in the latest knowledge and scientific truths which at that particular
moment seem to be the "final and correct" ones. This is of course understandable, but besides that confidence we must know that
there is always something which we can not reach through scientific method, something behind and beyond the "final truth". It is this context that the words "posible" and "wissenschaftlich" are used in my
work.

The title "Posible" is positive. Si, posible! Yes, it is possible.

- Ilari Laakso

Instrumentation

2trp, 2hn, 2trb, 2tba

Category

Chamber Works

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Archive number

MF33091

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