Performers & composers

Veli-Matti Puumala

Veli-Matti Puumala (b. 1965) is one of the leading Finnish composers who made their debut in the 1980s. His early works tied in with the Finnish Modernist mainstream of the period; Puumala, however, has remained faithful to Modernism even in the 1990s, when more traditional, even Neo-Romantic ideals have begun to appear in Finnish music. In an interview in 1993, Puumala said: “If by Modernism you mean the desire to continue the broad line from Beethoven to Stockhausen and on into the future, then all right, I’m a Modernist. I like to believe that there’s always something new to discover.”

Puumala’s idiom combines abundant post-serial detail and precision with rich tonal colour and thoroughgoing textural treatment. The relative significance of these elements varies from piece to piece; his work shows no clearcut progress in any specific direction. Puumala has concentrated almost exclusively on instrumental music, making use of different playing techniques of various instruments as a means to produce variety of detail and timbre.

Kimmo Korhonen (1994)

Apostrophe

Apostrophe is a small-scale concertante work for solo violin, string trio and percussion. It was commissioned by and written for Hannu Vasara and Zagros Ensemble and they premiered the work in April 2005.
 
Apostrophe refers to a graphic sign (’) but it also means a speech addressed to an absent person. I personally understand this piece as a message to the unknown. Musically it is a free variation form based on an old hymn tune.