Sketches before a storm
by Matthew Whittall
for flute and kantele
Description
Sketches before a storm, for flute and kantele, is a product of my fascination over the last several years with various Japanese art forms, poetry and landscape painting especially. The style of fast-sketched inkbrush painting known as sumi-e is one I find particularly inspiring. I am constantly attracted by its spaciousness, the limited use of a few controlled gestures in a single color, usually black, to create a simple but sharply defined image; the alternation of emptiness and dense activity, light and shade and, above all, by the overwhelming feeling of balance in such scenes.
The piece is, as the title implies, a series of brief vignettes or panels, some linked, some standing slightly apart from the overall structure, that together create a larger landscape. The two instruments soliloquy and dialogue freely, using and re-using a minimal set of musical “brushstrokes” deployed in improvisational fashion throughout. The “storm” is an image only intimated by the unsettled, slightly volatile nature of the music, like waves of tension mounting before a rainstorm that never arrives (except perhaps for the first heavy drops). Although the influence of Japanese music may occasionally be heard, the relationship is more of a structural one, where small-scale materials are arranged into a form of greater complexity. I like to think the use of extended techniques – airy flute sounds, strings being scratched and buzzed together – parallels the technique in sumi-e of letting the paper show through the ink, thereby exposing the material upon which the scene is drawn, the canvas, in the case of music, being silence.
Sketches before a storm was commissioned by Tuuli Lukkarinen and Salla Ruuskanen with the generous assistance of the Kordelin Fund, and is dedicated to them.
© Matthew Whittall
Instrumentation fl, kantele
Instrument codes
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 |
Coding for instrument ensembles and orchestras
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 |
Category Chamber Works
Premiere
Salla Ruuskanen, flute, Tuuli Luukkarinen, kantele, Helsinki, April 20, 2006.
Commisioned by / dedications Commissioned by and dedicated to Tuuli Luukkarinen and Salla Ruuskanen.
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Archive number MF19664
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