Violin Concerto: A Requiem (2023)

COMPOSER´S NOTES

The Violin Concerto is a Requiem to an unborn life. The concerto draws its inspiration from profound personal experiences as unwanted infertility, and the experiences and thoughts that arose during this very difficult journey of dealing with unwanted childlessness.

The music progresses from anger and frustration in the first movement, De profundis, to a dreamlike state in the second movement, Alcheringa*, where glimpses of hope emerge, only to disappear again.

In the last movement, Ad lucem, the music embarks on a journey, trying to reach the light, reminding of one's need to hold on to hope.

Violin Concerto: A Requiem was commissioned by Maria Puusaari and is dedicated to her. 

*Alcheringa, an Arandic language term, refers to Australian Aboriginal beliefs of Dreaming, Dreamtime, or "Everywhen", a myth of creation and, in a larger context, a concept that embraces past, present and future. Another definition suggests that Dreaming represents how the relationships between people, animals, plants and the land came to be and how they need to be maintained. It is argued that the term itself is based on a misunderstanding or mistranslation, and that the closer meaning of Alcheringa could be "eternal" or "uncreated".