karu

Watch / listen

Score / parts

Instrumentation and duration

Guitar trio

Duration: 15 minutes

Movements

I. Aanaar

II. El Camino Real

III. Echo, returning

Commission / dedications

Commissioned by and dedicated to Timo Korhonen

First performance

First movement, original version: Shin-ichi Fukuda, Timo Korhonen and Thomas Müller-Pering, guitars, Taiwan International Guitar Festival, Taipei National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan, August 10, 2014

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Whole work: Timo Korhonen, Mikko Ikäheimo, Janne Malinen, guitars, 50th Anniversary concert of Timo Korhonen, Kantakaupungin Kitarakonsertit Festival, Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki, November 6, 2014

Composer's Notes

My guitar trio karu was inspired by the open, arid and barren landscapes – by the tranquility of Lake Inari in Finnish Lapland and the sceneries along El Camino Real, the historical route following the coastline of the Pacific Ocean in California, along which I have traveled a couple of times. The night in the desert of California captivated me by its silence.

For many years now in my work as a composer I have been interested in the slow and fragile qualities in music. In the whirlwind of our ever-accelerating everyday lives and the ever-increasing flood of information and interruptions, I want my music to approach the experiences of coming to a halt and approaching silence. With the fragile sounds of three guitars, karu leads away from the hectic environments. Only the aggressive outbursts in the final movement Echo, returning remind us of the chaos of our everyday life.

karu was commissioned by Timo Korhonen and he premiered the work with Shin-ichi Fukuda and Thomas Müller-Pering at the Taiwan International Guitar Festival in Taipei in August 2014. The work is dedicated to Timo Korhonen.