Commissioned by the Helsinki Festival

Recipient of the Nordic Music Prize (1988); winner of the International Rostrum of Composers (1986)

  • 4(4pic)+afl.3+ca.3(Ebcl)+bcl.asx.3+cbn/4441/4perc/2hp.pf(cel)/str(min 14.12.10.8.6)
  • clarinet (Eb, bcl, dbcl), 2 percussion, piano, cello, conductor, sound control
  • 27 min

Programme Note


Kraft is a piece written for a soloist group and large orchestra in 1983-85. The piece was commisioned by the Helsinki Festival and first performed the 4th of September in 1985 by the Finnish Radio Orchestra and the TOIMII-ensmble under the direction of Esa-Pekka Salonen.

All the musical material of the piece has been prepared with a micro-computer, with programmes written in FORTH allowing a very flexible control of rhythm and chord processes. The programme is based on a formalization of rules for creation of rhythmic events, gestures and temporal processes, and an environment allowing a graphical output for metric notation. Similar rule-based programmes control the creation of harmonic material by a comparison to previously defined and accepted chordal successions given by the composer.

The control of amplification and spatialization of the soloists during the performance is done with an application written in PreFORM and running on a Macintosh computer allowing a precise control of movement in the hall in real time.

Media

Kraft: I. —
Kraft: II. —

Scores

Score preview

Reviews

“Kraft” (1983-85) is a sound barrage for large orchestra, with soloists playing amplified cello, clarinet, piano and percussion — including a motley collection of instruments like furniture legs, brake drums, bolts and what not. The performance of this lurching, intricate and sonically wondrous half-hour work was fascinating to hear and fun to watch. [...]Though “Kraft” bustles with heady, impish music, it is a brilliant, serious-minded contemporary work.
Anthony Tommasini, New York Times
8th October 2010
'…with explosive gestures, vivid sonorities and a huge battery of percussion arrayed around the auditorium, Kraft still packs a powerful punch…'
Andrew Clements, Guardian
21st May 2004

Discography

Title Unavailable
  • Label
    Ondine
  • Catalogue Number
    ODE 1017-2
  • Conductor
    Esa-Pekka Salonen
  • Ensemble
    Toimii Ensemble
  • Soloist
    Magnus Lindberg, piano
Title Unavailable
  • Label
    Finlandia
  • Catalogue Number
    FACD 372
  • Conductor
    Esa-Pekka Salonen
  • Ensemble
    Toimii Ensemble / Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Title Unavailable
  • Label
    Ondine
  • Catalogue Number
    ODE 784-2
  • Conductor
    Jukka-Pekka Saraste
  • Ensemble
    Avanti! Chamber Orchestra / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

More Info