Transformations, Concerto
for Saxophone Quartet (2020 / 2025) · 22′
Details
Versions for wind orchestra (2020) and symphony orchestra (2025). Commissioned by Saxophone Quartet Aava with support from the Madetoja Foundation
Video
Programme note
The saxophone is an extraordinarily versatile instrument, and four saxophones raise that versatility to at least the second power. Add to this the chance for a fortunate composer to bring in a wind orchestra, with its countless combinations of colour, and writer’s block becomes more than likely, or does it…? That, at least, is what happened to me at first. I shelved one idea after another until I finally decided to start again with a completely clean slate. It went without saying that the piece needed to give the quartet varied material to play, and that each of the quartet’s players should also get the chance to show what they’re made of in a solo, but that was almost where the planning ended. I simply decided that the work would be based on the continuous transformation of material, and my starting point was a harmonic world typical of my music, disturbed by a trill from the very beginning. Then I let the music develop freely in whatever direction it wanted to go, ruling nothing out. This approach led to an exceptionally joyful composing process that kept surprising me, and I hope the result comes across the same way to you, dear listeners. Transformations was commissioned by the Aava Saxophone Quartet with financial support from the Madetoja Foundation. The work is dedicated to the dazzling virtuosos of the Aava Saxophone Quartet.”
Veli Kujala, 2020
“Saksofoni on äärettömän monipuolinen instrumentti ja neljä saksofonia korottaa tämän monipuolisuuden vähintäänkin toiseen potenssiin. Vielä kun onnekkaalle säveltäjälle annetaan mahdollisuus liittää mukaan lukemattomia väriyhdistelmiä tarjoava puhallinorkesteri on writer’s block enemmän kuin todennäköinen, vai…? Näin ainakin ensin kävi omalla kohdallani. Hyllytin idean toisensa jälkeen kunnes lopulta päätin aloittaa täysin puhtaalta pöydältä: oli sanomattakin selvää, että teoksessa tulee olla monipuolista soitettavaa kvartetille ja jokaisen kvartetin solistin pitäisi myös päästä näyttämään kyntensä soolona, mutta siihen suunnittelu lähes loppuikin. Päätin vain teoksen perustuvan jatkuvaan materiaalin muodonmuutokseen ja lähtöpisteenä toimi minulle tyypillinen harmoniamaailma, jota trilli häiritsee heti alusta alkaen. Sitten annoin musiikin kehittyä vapaasti haluamaansa suuntaan mitään poissulkematta. Tämä lähestymistapa johti erittäin riemukkaaseen ja itselleni jatkuvia yllätyksiä tarjoavaan sävellysprosessiin, jonka lopputulos toivottavasti välittyy sellaisena myös arvon kuulijoille. Transformations on Saksofonikvartetti Aavan tilaus, jota on taloudellisesti tukenut Madetoja-säätiö. Teos on omistettu Saksofonikvartetti Aavan säkenöiville virtuooseille.”
Veli Kujala, 2020
Reviews
“Kujala is touchingly uninterested in conventional aesthetic genre thinking and cheerfully picks from the musical smorgasbord, but there’s never a need for a herring salad warning. On the contrary, Kujala is extremely careful about how he combines these fundamentally different ingredients. Latin rhythms and reminiscences from fusion jazz coexist constructively with more traditionally modernistic tendencies, within a whole that feels both dramatically and expressively exceptionally well-balanced. The concise, 21-minute-long concerto is subtitled Transformations, and a continuous transformation of a relatively limited basic material is precisely what it’s all about. Additionally, Kujala has successfully mastered the combination of the soloist quartet with the orchestra. At times, the four saxophones perform in their own little bubble, and at other times, they engage in a fruitful interaction with the orchestra. Each soloist has been assigned their own appropriately challenging, tailor-made solo parts.”
Mats Liljeroos / Hufvudstadsbladet
Performances
- 28 Oct 2020, Saxophone Quartet Aava / The Guards Band / József Hárs, Temppeliaukio Church, Helsinki — world premiere, wind orchestra
- 11 Sep 2025, Aava / Saimaa Sinfonietta / Erkki Lasonpalo, Lappeenranta Hall — world premiere, symphony orchestra
- 12 Sep 2025, same forces, Mikkeli