Teddy
2023
Duration
15 min
Commissioned by
Janne Valkeajoki
Premiered by
Janne Valkeajoki
Jul 24 2023
Ainola, Järvenpää, Finland
Teddy is a solo accordion piece that invites the listener on a slowly unfolding meditative journey exploring themes of comfort, tenderness and nostalgia.
The work is inspired by the teddy bear, symbolizing warmth, security, comfort and love. The thought of a teddy bear can also evoke feelings of nostalgia, transporting thoughts back to childhood and its innocence. The gentle teddy bear helps a child create their own safe dream world to immerse themselves in through imagination and play. On the other hand, the teddy bear serves as a reminder of the power of unconditional love
and comfort during moments of longing or loneliness throughout different stages of life.
The comforting embrace of a teddy bear can also be seen more concretely in the soloist’s way of holding the accordion in their lap and arms and playing the instrument with embracing gestures and movements.
The work was commissioned by and is dedicated to Janne Valkeajoki. The commission has been made possible by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and Nuori Suomalainen Harmonikkaorkesteri ry.
Past Performances
Apr 27 2024
Janne Valkeajoki
Music Centre
Helsinki, Finland
Feb 2 2024
Janne Valkeajoki
Centre Löwenberg
Murten/Morat, Switzerland
Aug 27 2023
Janne Valkeajoki
Kulttuuritila Nuijamies
Lappeenranta, Finland
Jul 24 2023
Janne Valkeajoki
Ainola, Järvenpää, Finland
Sheet Music
Schott Music
Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG
Weihergarten 5
55116 Mainz
info@schott-music.com
+49 6131 246-0
Press Quotes
Sebastian Hilli’s fifteen-minute Teddy (2023) marks one of the finest entries to the solo accordion repertoire in recent years. Conceived in arch-like manner, the one-movement score opens with slowly unfolding chorale-like section of gradually permuting long-held chords, marked Tranquillo, solitario, teneramente,clad in nocturnal colors. Pulsating central passage ensues, building up to splendid study on ostinato figures, repeated with Tempo giusto, affettuoso, con calore momentum. Embedded with agile arpeggios, the music flows through a wonderful sequence of sonorities, before coming full circle and landing on a slow-motion coda.
Given in spellbinding performance by Valkeajoki, who premiered the piece at Our Festival a month-or-so ago, Teddy conjured up a sonic dream-quest, a safe space filled with absorbing textures of soothing spectral beauty and empowering post-minimalist energy.
Jari Kallio, AIM, Aug 28 2023
Given in terrific premiere outing by accordionist Janne Valkeajoki, Hilli’s spellbinding Teddy is cast in single, fifteen-minute arch, with slowly unfolding, colorist Tranquillo outer passages framing more kinetic Tempo giusto, affettuoso, con calore central section. Idiomatically conceived, the score makes great use of the solo instrument’s harmonic and rhythmic potential, to a captivating effect.
In the course of the 74-bar opening, slowly rotating chordal progression is unveiled, awash with sonic warmth and harmonic glow, with long-held dynamic curves embedded. Once completed, the opening cycle gives away to pulsating chords, taking wing over gently shifting pedal-points. As the section proceeds, quasi-minimalist arpeggio figures take precedence, giving rise to musical permutations of utmost suggestive power.
Completing its circle, from bar 253 onward, the score harks back to its unhurried opening textures. Meditative and resonant, cloud-like chords are turned into drones, leading to quasi-static final measures and, eventually, silence.
An astonishing feat, as if tailor-made for Ainola’s unique atmosphere, Teddy made a profound impact upon its virtuosic first performance. Seemingly dwelling outside space-time continuum, Valkeajoki’s reading evoked an aura of a joint ritual, one shared with gratitude and joy.
Jari Kallio, AIM, Jul 26 2023
Listen
Performed by Janne Valkeajoki: