What a concert! What a night!
Last night the Academic Male Voice Choir Akademen together with their conductor Elisa Huovinen gave an outstanding world premiere to my piece Hav, which they had commissioned. Due to a movement in the piece, where the choir is required to clap and stomp, the choir sang the whole 17 minute accapella piece by heart! This in a time when covid-19 has made regular choir practises impossible for over 2 years! I was so impressed!
The whole concert took place in a former steam power plant Kattilahalli, which felt like a industrial cathedral (to borrow the music criticque Mats Liljeroos words).
Hav was one of three commissions by the choir around the theme renewable energies interwoven by preludes and interludes by soundartist Joel James Ward and the whole concert was visually orchestrated by light artist Alexander Salvesen. After Ward’s opening soundscape, Andrea Eklund’s meditative piece Aeon Breath to a poem by James Gilbank filled the domelike hall while the smoke lay heavy and the light scape was hazy. During Ward’s water-inspired interlude soundscape, while the choir re-essembled in the dark.
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| KRAFT Akademen Photo by Melinda Schultz |
Out of the dim light and haze the intimate beginning of my Hav began to rise, while Salvesen made spectacular visual landscapes through enormous water projections of light upon the ceiling. Hav consists of a total of ten movements which are sung attack after each other. The first movement in Swedish is meditative and describes the sea and how tremendous it is while the second very energetic movement in English discusses the possibilities of wave power plants. Example of the lyrics of the second movement:
There is an enormous energy potential
that is available around the clock and free of charge.
A potential, that if fully exploited,
could satisfy 40% of the world wide demand for power.
This equals the output of 700-800 nuclear power stations.
This would mean no high-level radio active vaste
of seven hundred to eight hundred nuclear power stations.
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| KRAFT 2022 Akademen Photo by Melinda Schultz |
As mentioned, Salvesen had arranged a water basin of about two times 20 meters, with a small motor spinning a pedal that produced fantastic waves that all was reflected on the ceiling, so the energy potential of waves was literally projected on the ceiling and walls.
In the middle of the piece the choir sings partly in unison and partly in three part harmony with a happy melody in major with vibes from Finnish folk music, accompanied by claps and stomps, the following text in Finnish from the Finnish “Economist” (Taloussanomat), here translated:
Only the demand for renewable energy
will grow this year,
predicts the International Energy Agency IEA.
The global energy market and emissions
from energy production
will see a historic drop this year
as a result of the coronary virus pandemic,
the International Energy Agency IEA predicts.
The prognosis says
that the energy demand
is going to fall
the most it has done in 70 years -
Emissions could fall
by as much as eight percent,
the International Energy Agency IEA predicts.
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| KRAFT 2022 Akademen Photo by Melinda Schultz |
After this lighter segment the choir is split up so that soloist came to stand between the choir and the water pool, each with an own lightbulb in front of them. While the choir breathes in and out at a rising tempo like a dying planet, the soloists recite a text about how Finnish firms developing Wave-power haven’t received the needed funding from the state (which somehow just seems incredible to me, and so sad). The ever growing crescendo and accelerando is interrupted by a foghorn, which is followed by some beautiful huge chords by the choir and a lamenting solo sung by one of the first tenors. The choir get’s to whistle and sing overtones as well. The piece ends with my words (in Swedish)
Today wave energy costs
about twice as much per megawatt hour,
than electricity produced by wind or nuclear power.
But what is the price for the survival of mankind,
for the continued existence of our planet? I
magine if you were to invest as much i
n renewable energies as in Olkiluoto 3, almost nine billion.
What would happen? Where can it take us?
Sea
Oceans
Energy potential
Sea
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| KRAFT 2022 Akademen Photo by Melinda Schultz |
After my piece the hall went almost dark again and while Salvesen made an impressive visualsation of red radar lights moving around the space, Ward filled the space with a morse code telling about the piece and presenting the artists. During this time the choir could collect their note stands and sheet music for the final piece.
It felt like Alex Freeman’s A Field of Sunlight picked up where I had left, and the piece began with an amazing chord with overtone singing, which was absolutely stunning. The piece composed to Galileo Galilei’s poetical texts about the sun, was an all time changing mass of sound.
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| KRAFT Alexander Salvesen Photo by Melinda Schultz |
During this piece the amazing circular projections of water (projected by old overhead projectors) began to fill up with colours and turn blood red in the front (stage) part of the hall while they turned green and blue in the back part of the hall. A total of 8 overhead projectors were projecting different coloured orbs on to the ceiling and walls, while Salvesen walked calmly between them and adjusting the colours in them. The whole piece ended in semi-darkness with the feeling of rotating stars moving around the room. This was achieved by two simple disco balls placed relatively far behind in the room, a simple but genius work of art by Salvesen.
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| KRAFT 2022 Akademen Photo by Melinda Schultz |
After the last tones of Freeman’s piece had rung out the audience was allowed to clap for the first time in 75 minutes, and clap they did! They audience gave the concert a standing ovation for about 10 minutes. This was an absolutely unforgettable experience, and its with mixed feelings I say: a once in a life time experience. Of course it would be amazing if this whole concert would be put up again, in for instance a festival! But there is also something very beautiful and special in being part of something so huge and visceral.
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| Joel Ward, Cecilia Damström, Alex Freeman, Andrea Eklund, Alexander Salvesen and Elisa Huovinen after the concert KRAFT 7th of May 2022 at Kattilahalli, Helsinki. |
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