Affekt
2016-2017
Duration
45 min.
Instrumentation
3333 4331 12 1, str, chf, chm, 2chx
Commissioned by
Helsingfors sång- och musikförbund (HSMF) for its 100th anniversary
Written to texts by
Mårten Westö
Premiered by
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra &
17 choirs of HSMF
Conducted by Leif Segerstam
Oct 20 2017
Music Centre, Helsinki, Finland
Affekt addresses the memories, emotional states (”affects”) and experiences caused by parting and separation. The piece illustrates the viewpoints of both parties; the conflicting memories and the difficulty of letting go. The two sides engage in a fragmentary dialogue of which the tone and direction changes as time goes by.
Written for 17 amateur choirs, in total 250 singers and a large professional orchestra, my goal was to find a diverse way to express my musical ideas in a way that is not restricting or thinking that one couldn’t challenge or demand too much of amateur singers, in stead finding ways that are accessible and functional for the chorists yet nonetheless achieving the same desired result.
Affekt is a process, but a shattered one – what’s important are the different states of mind involved, the music reflecting their unpredictability and contrasts, and the shattered nature of memories.
The characters range from monotony and melancholy to temporary despair and frenzy to playfulness and lightness.
Despite its massive proportions, Affekt is about something intimate and human. Present in the music is the idea of capturing particular moments and their distinct moods (affects). Though the topic is introverted, the large ensemble, with its large choir, reaches out and allows challenging and stretching boundaries. This results in a kind of intensity that conveys a focal point of my musical thinking; an idea that taking risks may generate something unexpected and enchanting.
Past Performances
Oct 20 2017
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra &
17 choirs of HSMF
Conducted by Leif Segerstam
Music Centre, Helsinki, Finland
Sheet Music
Schott Music
Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG
Weihergarten 5
55116 Mainz
info@schott-music.com
+49 6131 246-0
Press Quotes
“Hilli clearly has something big and exciting going on: a movement towards, as it seems, unexplored domains that tickle curiosity vigorously […]
Ultimately, it is about whether the composer had something important to say and if they were able to say that in a personal way. The final proved to be the case with Hilli’s 45-minute, nine-movement work for choir and orchestra, Affekt, where both the treatment of the orchestra and the synthesis of styles appeared to be astonishingly original. Hilli blends together influences from here and there in an unprejudiced manner and the aesthetics are neither distinctly modernist nor traditional.”
Mats Liljeroos, HBL, Oct 21 2017
“[…] Something big is probably taking place at Helsinki Music Center on Friday. 250 choir singers premiere Sebastian Hilli’s newly written Affekt …”
Wilhelm Kvist, HBL, Oct 19 2017
Listen
Excerpt from 9th movement En tidig stund
Video footage of the rehearsals of Affekt and interview in Swedish by Huvudstadsbladet: