Oi surkaa
Mixed choir or vocal ensemble
Composed:
2010
Score / parts
Instrumentation and duration
Vocal ensemble or mixed choir (8 parts)
Duration: 4 minutes
Text
Poem Nuori karhunampuja (“The Young Bear Hunter”) by Risto Oikarinen
First performance
Vocal ensemble of Helsinki Chamber Choir, cond. Eric-Olof Söderström, Concert hall of Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, Finland, December 5, 2010
Composer's Notes
This piece is based on a poem by Risto Oikarinen, which in turn draws inspiration from Aleksis Kivi’s poem Nuori karhunampuja (“The Young Bear Hunter”). In both texts, I feel that dark and desolate shades of transience and loss rise to the surface.
My interest in shifting vocal timbres and sustained tones inevitably emerges in this work as well. So here is a brief atmospheric piece for eight-part vocal ensemble which, despite its somber subject matter, dares to burst into a major triad. My apologies.