31 min.
Soloists: Tenor Saxophone & Violin
Fl., doubling w/Sopr. Rec., Picc., doubling w/ Sopr. Rec., Ob., doubling w/ Alto Rec., Cl., B.Cl., Bsn/Cbns., Horn I & II, Trpt., Trb., Timp., Perc. II & II, Str. min strings 4-3-2-2-1
The double concerto Kairos Ludus for saxophone, violin, and orchestra is a rhythmic, coloristic, and virtuosic work that journeys through the expressive palette of the modern saxophone and violin, enriched by a wide range of extended instrumental techniques. The energetic interplay and competition between the solo instruments creates rhythmic labyrinths and a superdynamic sense of momentum inspired by modern free jazz. A tightly driven dramaturgical tension and pull, realized through contrasting textures and rhythmic devices, has been a central compositional idea throughout the work.
At times massive, at times fragile and transparent, the orchestral sonorities alternate with the soloists’ phrases, creating exciting and unexpected shifts in the musical landscape and texture. It is not always possible to perceive whether the soloists are acting as soloists or as part of the orchestra itself. Various percussion instruments also play a significant role in the work. The composition consists of five movements, and I have left the principal cadenza entirely improvised for the soloists, guided only by a few thematic hints.
I conceived the work as a sister piece to the violin concerto of the composer I deeply admire, György Ligeti. Ligeti’s “Call of the Ocarinas” finally receives its own kind of response within the multidimensional turbulence of Kairos Ludus — while at the same time introducing the world’s first-ever double concerto for saxophone and violin.
The work is exploring temporal perception and sonic transformations which travels through the diverse expression palette of the modern tenor saxophone and violin with extended techniques also presented for the both solo instruments. Kairos Ludus consists of five movements that shape the rhythmically multidirectional sceneries of the piece very differently. Movement I is about the soloists meeting the very first time with a string of frolic introductionary dialoques. Movement II is where the first common sonic ground is established in an ethereal and hounting scenery growing into a big mass of sound to be the transition to the movement III where a rhythmic multidiversity gets its play with the soloist and the orchestra. Movement IV starts with a Gesualdo – like choral turning into a full orchestra movement preceding the improvised cadenza of the soloists. Movement V is a battling dance of the soloists and the percussion leading to the conclusion of the whole drama being a longy and misty afterthought leading to the end of the piece.
-Esa Pietilä