Batteria

Batteria, which I composed in 2016, continues my exploration of vigorous, virtuosic music, but it also steers my expression towards more extra-musical topics. Throughout the piece the rhythms are strongly tied to the pulse, from a primitive crotchet one to a more relentless clock-like tick. The rhythmic aspect is crystallised in the flash cut to a belligerent march for percussions and brass just before the climax. The arrival, positively hedonistic in its fullness, at an E-major chord at the very height of the piece acts as the firing shot for the final, ecstatic sprint against time towards the finishing line. Acting as milestones in the overall scheme of Batteria, which lasts about 10 minutes, are loud chords like church bells inspired by the dramatic events in Paris, Brussels and Nice while I was composing the piece. Dedicated to life – À la vie – Batteria is not, however, a political statement; rather, it is purely and simply humane art from one individual to another, privately and personally. Translated by Susan Sinisalo