Antti Auvinen

Eliangelis

Antti Auvinen's (b. 1974) Eliangelis (2005) for clarinet solo challenges the conventional way of writing for a monophonic solo instrument: at times the multi-layered multiphonic figures create an illusion of polyfony, and at times the timbres for the clarinet are augmented by a combination of broken sound and pitchless hissing. Sounds created by unusual ways of playing do not sound artificial. Auvinen uses them in a service of the musical substance understanding the features of the clarinet. Despite its modern approaches, the music of Auvinen slips with ease into the centuries-old classical-music continuum, and the emotional charges generated by music occupy an important role. Art, he says, affects people deepest down, in the realm of emotion.