RÄISÄNEN
Tomi
Verso
(2019)
Alto Flute, Viola, Contrabass, Piano, Tape
Duration 15 min.
Commissioned by Ensemble Klangrauschen
First performance on November 23, 2019, in Lübeck, Germany by Ensemble Klangrauschen: Liz Farrell, alto flute, Marie Yamanaka, viola, Heiko Maschmann, contrabass and Ninon Gloger, piano
I. Itu
II. Silmu(kka)
III. Vers(i)o
IV. Vesuri
V. Vesa
Verso is a piece about sprouting. The work has five consecutive movements. The Finnish word itu means an early stage of a sprout. Silmu is a young shoot, and silmukka means a loop, which refers to the canonic structure of the movement. Verso is the next growing stage of the shoot, and versio means version: the same passage repeats in different harmonic versions. In the next movement, Vesuri (a cutting tool billhook), the music is cut out totally: instead of instruments, we hear the sounds of breaking dry branches and the buzzing of imaginary microscopic plants and insects. Vesa is a new shoot that grows out from a tree stump. TR, 2021