Estimated duration

2 h, incl. intermission

Organizer

Helsingin kaupunginorkesteri

Sebastian Fagerlund: Organ Concerto “Ad Spiram” (World premiere) Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6

Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor
Iveta Apkalna, organ

Sebastian Fagerlund: Organ Concerto “Ad Spiram” (World premiere)
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 6

“Ad Spiram, loosely translated from Latin, means ‘towards the spiral’ or ‘towards the vortex’,” says Sebastian Fagerlund, explaining the title of his organ concerto. “The Latin word ‘spirare’ means to breathe. These two meanings were strongly in my mind during the composition phase. I have had an abstract image of columns of air that intertwine in a spiral and the idea of the instrument itself that breathes.”

“When I discovered the music of Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler in my late teens, I knew that there was something here that I wanted to understand completely.” Bruckner’s music has become important to Jukka-Pekka Saraste over the years. “He was a humble person with an incredible will beneath the surface. This duality in his personality inspired me greatly.”