night signal
Male choir
Composed:
2009
Watch / listen
Kuunteletko Sinä
The Polytech Choir, cond. Juha Kuivanen
World premiere recording
The Polytech Choir (2013)
Choral Album of the Year 2013 Award
(Finnish Choral Conductors’ Association and Sulasol Society)
Sheet music
Instrumentation and duration
Male choir divided in four groups (TTBB TTBB TTBB TTBB) around the audience
Duration: 3 minutes
Text
Phonetic text by the composer
Commission / dedications
Commissioned by the Polytech Choir
First performance
Polytech Choir, cond. Juha Kuivanen, The 5th International Leevi Madetoja Male Voice Choir Competition, Tapiola Church, Espoo, Finland, April 16, 2010
World premiere recording
Kuunteletko sinä, The Polytech Choir, cond. Juha Kuivanen (2013). The album received the Vocal Album of the Year Award in 2014, given by the Society of Finnish Choir Conductors and Sulasol Society.
Reflections
Album review of Kuunteletko sinä, published on Helsingin Sanomat by Samuli Tiikkaja
July 10, 2013
The former conductor of the Polytech Choir, Tapani Länsiö, sums up the essence of the album in his liner notes: this is a snapshot of Finland in the early 2000s. The choir has recorded music by contemporary composers, set to texts by contemporary poets.
In much the same way, the core repertoire of male choir music from a hundred years ago was born from collaborations between national romantic composers and poets. Today, however, the challenges are different: instead of rich textures and soaring melodic lines, choirs must now master glissandi and speech-like rhythmic phrasing.
The Polytech Choir is conducted on the album by Juha Kuivanen. Their interpretations are confident, and the variety of composers brings a welcome diversity to the recording. Maija Hynninen’s Mielen tasapainolajit (“Mental Balancing Acts”) gives a witty musical take on Janne Nummela’s poetry, while Markku Klami’s night signal dispenses with text entirely, gliding through overtone series shaped by pure vowel sounds.
Album review of Kuunteletko sinä, published on Suomen Kuvalehti by Lauri Kilpiö
August 30, 2013
Contemporary art music is famously marked by a diversity of styles, and this variety is clearly reflected on Kuunteletko sinä (“Do You Listen”). Olli Kortekangas’s freely tonal and naturally flowing Anna niskasi niellä kynteni jälki offers a poignant exploration of the relationship between father and son. Mikko Sidoroff’s gently resonant, nature-themed Talvi, tule vasta leans into the traditional virtues of choral music.
In Kyklooppi, Riikka Talvitie treats Mikko Rimminen’s poetry with freedom and creativity, yet with respect for rhythm and intelligibility. The delightfully arched composition spans a range of expression from melodic modernism to the wild rhythms of a spoken-word chorus verging on rap.
Tiina Myllärinen builds vivid sonic textures in the compact Kaikki kuuluu värinä, though Henriikka Tavi’s lengthy poem proves nearly impossible to follow in its entirety.
Maija Hynninen cleverly combines two poems by Janne Nummela in her rich and imaginative Mielen tasapainolajit (“Mental Balancing Acts”). Markku Klami, by contrast, uses no text at all in his miniature night signal: in this concise and luminously captivating piece, shifting vowels take the place of words.
The Polytech Choir, under the direction of Juha Kuivanen, performs each work with boldness, precision, and nuance—delivering interpretations that reflect the choir’s ever-rising artistic standard.