A Sky Too Small

orchestra
2023

Duration 7’
Instrumentation 2(I&II=picc).2 (II=Ca).2.2 (II Contra) – 4.3.2 (II Bs).1 – perc(3) – strings
First Performance 13 July 2024, Festival Aix-en-Provence, Grand Théâtre de Provence; Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Klaus Mäkelä
Commissioned by the Festival Aix-en-Provence and the Orchestre de Paris – Philharmonie de Paris

Further Performances
4.12.24 Grande salle Pierre Boulez – Philharmonie, 221 avenue Jean-Jaurès, 75019 Paris, France; Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä
5.12.24 Grande salle Pierre Boulez – Philharmonie, 221 avenue Jean-Jaurès, 75019 Paris, France; Orchestre de Paris, Klaus Mäkelä

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Based on a shocking and ultimately tragic true story, where the basic human right of freedom is stolen, enforced incarceration is a central theme in the work. And, locked away in a dark hole, there is too small a sky. Then, in an instant, it snaps closed. In time, and far too late, the captor becomes captive. The sky is outspread and unbounded, seemingly and sadly like the never-ending conflict.

Beginning softly, yet urgently, coldness grows. A whisper, passing uncomfortably round a room, turns harsh and cold, like a shiver down the spine. Low and expressive, the music conveys the darker sides of human nature: how is so much hate and terror possible? Ever developing, turning sharp corners, spinning in circles, folding back on itself: the music embodies an endless cycle of grief and pain, where everyone is lost. As in any war, a profound and inescapable harsh reality. Confined, cells of notes are spun around, at times blurred, at others biting and belligerent. This harmonically grounds the work, as if shackled and paralysed (by fear, by terror). Now, electric with the unspoken, a mysterious section follows with pizzicato celli, and gongs and harp in discordant dialogue. After a breath – a sustained chilling pause centred again on the top E which begins the work – anticipation builds with insistent pizzicati, swelling chords and sporadic melodies. Then, leading back into the earlier dark and expressive material; this time more earthy and fuller, suffusing the entire orchestra. Finally, giving way to a sharp, unsettling insurgency of the opening pulsating material, we realise, intensely and painfully, we have come full circle.