related works
Ashes : for cello / Ville Raasakka
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Cello
Scoring:
vc
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
2201 1000 cemb str
Ouverture 'Con Brio' : for orchestra / Hans Lachman
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Dansvariaties : voor orkest, (1956) / Henk Badings
Genre:
Orchestra
Subgenre:
Orchestra
Scoring:
3232 4331 timp perc pf str
composition
The Harvest : Version for orchestra / Ville Raasakka
Other authors:
Raasakka, Ville
(Composer)
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.