Three Memory Images from Hungary

Kolme muistikuvaa Unkarista    2020    13 min.
Three Memory Images from Hungary
for flute and harp
1. Aamu Szuhafössä, 2. Aggtelekin luola, 3. Haikaran pesä
1. Morning in Szuhafö, 2. Aggtelek´s Cave, 3. Stork´s Nest
Fbp: Ensemble Transparent: Erica Nygård: flute, Päivi Severeide: harp
28th April 2021, Sibelius Museum, Turku, Finland
Broadcasting by Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE
CD: Pertti Jalava - And I left the Door Open (Pilfink Records)

Three memories from Hungary are my memories from one of my many summer visits to Hungary. In the summer of 1984, my wife and I spent a few days at our friend's grandparents in the sleepy, idyllic village of Szuhafö. We visited the strangely mysterious depths of the nearby Aggtelek stalactite cave and marveled here and there at the large stork's nests wildly frolicking on top of electricity poles along the roads.
In this work there are two undeniably age-related traits: the tendency to occasionally reminisce about the past, and the dispersing of all kinds of hesitation and even the last shreds of inhibitions in the way of shameless emotional expression.
This romantic and impressionistic work is contemporary music. It doesn't make sense to limit the use of that term to "experimental" music, which is extremely rarely freer than this music from previously made music, let alone braver. I feel this is one of my bravest compositions precisely because of its pursuit of beauty, here I am perhaps at my most exposed as a composer, showing this sensitive and vulnerable side of myself that I believe we all have. I originally composed this for soprano saxophone and harp, for the Hungarian Duo SeRa, who have performed the piece a few times in Hungary. Right from the start, I also made this version for flute and harp.