Alkusoitto (Overture) was written as an overture for the stage work Earthly Angels: Passion (2023). The melodic material flows as an archaic 3-voice canon stretto [=the voice imitation taking place in close succession]. Beneath the canon voices the bass treatment is what gives the piece its structural form.
Alkusoitto begings as a polymetric duo between the opening canon voice and rhythmically independent bass line. With each new canon voice entry the complexity of the metric structure increases. The metric tension is eventually resolved with a sudden textural cut, upwards modulation and a leap to a groovy passacaglia. With stable pulse and ever-decending bass line the musical focus changes from meter to harmony, presenting the resources of the ongoing canon in a fresh light. The piece ends with a renaissance-like cadenza.
Performance pitch for Alkusoitto is 440 Hz.
Instrumentation
for tenor saxophone, soprano recorder (doubling harpsichord), bass viol, chamber organ, archlute
2023