Matthew Whittall
Stjärnenatten
Description
Stars figure prominently as an image in many of my works to date, so
it was quite natural, when asked to write a piece for a Swedish-speaking
choir, that I should gravitate quickly toward the poetry of the
visionary early Finnish modernist Edith Södergran. Stars are practically
a leitmotif throughout her work, and it became impossible to choose a
single text to set. Rather, I wove together a series of powerful lines
relating to stars from four different poems to provide the basis for a
symphonic poem of sorts for male choir. Stars for Södergran are at the
same time objects of wonder and fear, symbols of discovery, of holiness,
or dark omens of encroaching discord. The vastnesses of space between
them can be a metaphor for the self-isolation and narcissism of
individuals in Södergran’s writings, and in the next breath stars become
a portent of a new dawning awareness. As such, Stärnenatten is full of
contradictions. Stars rise and fall, wheel about, voices cry out in
anguish and soothe one another. The canvas is painted with a whole world
of nocturnal sounds, from the opening drone music through chorale-style
invocations to the stars, like a religious rite under the open night
sky, ending in a quiet, rapt awakening before a long-awaited dawn.
Instrumentation
chm
Category
Vocal and Choral Works
Language
Sv
Lyricist
Edith Södergran
Premiere
Akademiska Sångföreningen male choir, Kari Turunen, cond, the choir’s 180th anniversary, April 14, 2018, Helsinki
Commisioned by / dedications
Commissioned by and dedicated to the Akademiska Sångföreningen male choir and their conductor, Kari Turunen, for the choir’s 180th anniversary
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