confluence/divergence
2013-2015
Duration
27 min.
Instrumentation
guit solo, fl, perc, hp, vlc
Premiered by
Uusinta Ensemble and Petri Kumela
Jul 07 2017
Time of Music Festival
Viitasaari, Finland
The composing process of confluence/divergence took two years, largely due to the intricate theoretical principals I developed while composing the piece. I worked with complex combinations of sound entities and instrumental techniques that demanded further studying and exploring of refined ways of notation.
The title of the piece refers to the changing relationship between the soloist and the chamber ensemble. This dual relationship that is also fundamental to the classical concerto form, is the focal point of the piece.
Dramaturgical tension, instrumentation, textural surfaces, gestures and sound colours are based primarily on the developments (divergence and confluence) of this duality.
The piece is in three movements, the first being a miniature of the overall form of the piece. Each movement has its own character, the first being hectic and virtuosic, the second tranquil and mysterious, and the third playful, rhythmic and jerky.
Past Performances
Sep 08 2018
Insomnio Ensemble and Petri Kumela
Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2018
Utrecht, Netherlands
Aug 21 2018
Uusinta Ensemble and Petri Kumela
Music Centre, Helsinki, Finland
Jul 07 2017
Uusinta Ensemble and Petri Kumela
Time of Music Festival
Viitasaari, Finland
Sheet Music
Schott Music
Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG
Weihergarten 5
55116 Mainz
info@schott-music.com
+49 6131 246-0
Press Quotes
“Two years of work resulted in highly ambitiously developed sound colors in confluence/divergence for flute, percussion, harp, guitar and cello. I was especially fascinated by Hilli’s way of extracting new fascinating sounds with rubber clubs, credit cards and a whistling human voice inside the flute (Malla Vivolin).”
Wilhelm Kvist, HBL, Aug 22 2018
“Representing earlier production was confluence/divergence (2013-2015), which was an unmistakable guitar concerto: at the heart was the interaction between the soloist and the small ensemble, and it’s three-part form featured a rich first movement with cadences, a mystical slow movement, and a playful ending. Petri Kumela played the guitar solo part accurately and elasticly. The most remarkable archievement in the piece was the inventive use of extended playing techniques. The instruments imitated each other in a chameleon-like manner so that it was at times difficult to distinguish between which instrument produced the sound. Dragging the super balls released voices from the surfaces of the guitar, harp (Päivi Severeide) and timpani (Naoki Yasuda) imitating the murmur of the cello (Pinja Laine) and the speech of the flute (Malla Vivolin). Especially the harp was treated delightfully colorfully. It was not a matter of effects, but skillfull assembling of colors.”
Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen, Rondo, Aug 22 2018
“The title work confluence/divergence for guitar and small ensemble is a breathtaking play on sounds, in which the familiar roles of the instruments swing out of place. The playful and delirious surfaces permeate each other, with Petri Kumela’s wild guitar acting as a mediator.”
Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen, Rondo, Nov 13 2020
“Sebastian Hilli’s (b. 1990) confluence/divergence (2013–2015), a 30-minute work for solo guitar and small ensemble (flute, percussion, harp, cello), sweeps the listener straight into a breath-taking flow of imaginative sounds, produced through a variety of unconventional playing techniques. The instruments imitate each other and become a deceptive multi-instrument that dissolves the border between the soloist and the ensemble; Petri Kumela and the other musicians do an outstanding work. The deep groans in the second of the three movements are quite extraordinary, whereas the playful third feels somewhat prolonged before the final culmination.”
Anna Pulkkis, FMQ, Dec 4 2020
Listen
confluence/divergence performed by Insomnio Ensemble and Petri Kumela: