Jyrki Linjama: Sonata Da Chiesa III: Instrumental Album

SKU: FG.55011-753-2

ISBN 9790550117532.

Jyrki Linjama composed Sonata da chiesa I for piano as a commission from the Carinthischer Sommer festival in Austria and premiered by Juho Pohjonen at Ossiach Abbey in summer 2010. The title alludes to the sonata tradition of the Baroque at its weightiest and most solemn. The polyphonic church sonata with its strict adherence to form for a long time occupied an important role in the liturgy (as distinct from the sonata da camera). Linjama’s modern application of this tradition articulates features of the liturgy: breathing, bells, shades of darkness and light. The closed Miserere of the opening movement opens out in the middle movements to let in light, which the angelic song of the last movement once again encloses in translucent twilight. Each of the four movements uses a medieval melody as its material.

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Duration: c. 14’.

SKU: FG.55011-499-9

ISBN 9790550114999.

Sonata da chiesa III was commissioned by Petteri Pitko, who played the first perfor-mance in Kemionsaaren Musiikkijuhlat in the summer of 2016. The sonata has three movements, each of which has a definite liturgical character and a choral tune as a can-tus firmus. Hence the music can be performed either in a concert or as a part of liturgy.

From the composer's foreword: The first movement, Kyrie, has got an introvert mood. The choral melody is veiled, an indirect part of arpeggiated texture. The Gloria is open, even brilliant: the cantus firmus is worked out to a virtuosic, dance-like texture. The third movement closes the music by means of polyphony and bird singing. Concerning the harpsichord, for me it is essen-tial not to use equal temperament: the possibility to play with pure or almost pure in-tervals is crucial to the sound, having very high and strong overtones.

Duration c. 12'.