composer
Ville Raasakka is a composer based in Helsinki, Finland. He works with ecology and environmental sounds. His compositional practice ranges from orchestral and chamber music to electronics, installation and performance ...
related works
Black Cloud, Under Ground : for orchestra / Ville Raasakka
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
fl fl-a ob eh 2cl(cl-b) fg cfg 4h 2tpt 3trb tb 2perc str
Symfonie no. 1 : opus 1, 1980, revisie 1983 / Marc van Delft
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3223 4331 6perc cel 2hp (org ad lib.) str
Libertas venit : rhapsodie voor orkest, 1954 / door Hendrik Andriessen
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2222 4231 timp perc str
Midas : balletmuziek / Rob du Bois
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
4222 sax-a 2421 5perc el.g hp el.org/pf str
composition
The Harvest : Version for orchestra / Ville Raasakka
Description:
The harvest as a word stirs up images of autumnal peace and bountifulness. This work is however about the current forest machines that harvest the trees in frightening effectivity, within seconds. I have used the sounds of these current machines and transcribed them to the instruments.
The moaning glissandi of the hydraulics, the rhythmic buzzing of the saws, the beeping of the control panels and the crackling and snapping of the trees are the key sound elements of the work.
The horrific, machine-like sounds turn into music which struggles to free itself from the sound sources. The music becomes filtered and sinks into a sorrowful state of disbelief.
This devastated music is mourning the total loss of natural biodiversity and the constant series of extinctions.
The easy profits of forestry (the so-called ”forest management”) has led to a situation where over a 100 years old forests will soon no longer exist in Finland (under 5% at the moment), and the rest are, strictly speaking, not forests at all. We have tree farms, pretending an image of a real forest.