Starry Winter Night

SKU: FG.55011-486-9

ISBN 9790550114869.

The composer describes his 3rd string quartet, as follows: When we moved from Mantsala to Ylitornio in 1962, the experience of the northern sky at night without streetlight or other light pollution just stuck in my mind. The depth of the starry sky and the idea of how small we actually are inspired me for the three series of the string quartet. All of the string quartets are associated with the winter atmosphere and winter light in Sea Lapland. The series will culminate in the Gestures of Winter quartet, nicknamed as Time Around Northern Night Skies....

SKU: MN.12-128

UPC: 688670121289.

The three movements that make up Nocturnes, Book I are programmatic pieces that take as their points of departure a painting, the rhythms of a great city, and a poem. 1. The Starry Night is a written down improvisation based on Vincent van Goghs famous picture of the same name. The tonal material is a quite literal transformation of the visual elements of the painting: the melismatic cadenzas mirror van Goghs swirling starlight, and the powerful chords were suggested by the sinister trees that shoot upward to puncture the skys patterns. 2. Stovers Rag is a product of the ragtime revival of the early 1970s, when many composers tried their hand at writing concert rags. The New York night, which was not without its sinister element in those days, is expressed in an updating of the classic ragtime format. The piece looks backward as well, with the old French Baroque basse de trompette making an appearance in the trio section. 3. The Song of Shadows taps the nostalgic mood typical of the poetry of Walter de la Mare. The poem of the same name pictures a lone musician on a winter night, an dog sleeping before a sinking fire, and, at the end, the spirits that are summoned by music. The opening melody, played on an 8 flute with tremulant, suggests the blues-tinged sound of an alto saxophone, and throughout the movement the organs capacity for sustained tone is used to suggest and atmosphere of dreamy timelessness. The pieces were written in 1971 and first performed on July 2, 1972 at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, with the composer at the console.

SKU: M7.VHR-3419

ISBN 9783864341854.

With humour and seriousness, with vibrancy, much feeling and with the occasional wink of the eye, this volume of piano music opens up to us life in all its musical colour. The little pieces contrast the beauty of nature with the hustle and bustle of city life, they tell of adventures with pirates and wild horses, whisk us away to the sea and invite us to dance and to dream The 41 character pieces will go very nicely hand in hand with piano tutor books and will help pupils in the early years to appreciate the joys of playing the piano.

SKU: FG.55009-637-0

ISBN 979-0-55009-637-0.

In this one-movement concerto the flute is a highly adaptable soloist: at times a whispering breath on a starry sky, at others an arctic bird soaring above a winter landscape, taking startled flight on spotting a human figure. The idea for this work came to Nieminen in Rome when he was kept awake by persistent birdsong in the heat of the night. The title alludes to the last novel, Palomar, by Italo Calvino.