For soprano (or mezzo-soprano) and orchestra.
Web comment by the composer:
"What fascinates me in Emily Dickinson's poems are the short, subtle and precise descriptions of small moments and events; the twilight that stealthily darkens the grass, the carefree flight of the bumblebee in the summer wind, the imperceptible transition of summer to late summer, or an exciting love meeting symbolized by sparks that goes away when the flint splits. The short poems often focus on a single feeling or mood, which is why it was natural and very inspiring to compose Orchestral Songs in several short movements. One movement for each character or mood.
The movements are grouped into three major parts: Songs of Love, Songs of Nature and Songs of Life. Despite the fact that it is quite a large orchestra, I have chosen to use a transparent orchestration where details are focused on rather than tutti parts. Vibraphone, celesta and glockenspiel have prominent roles and I have used a wide timbre palette in the orchestration to give the fine values and shades in the text a sounding mirror image. The aphoristic texts have clearly left their mark on the work both in terms of form and instrumentation.
The tonal language of the music reflects the "tonal language" of the text as I perceive it. No forced style but rather an exposure of the music inherent in the lyrics. This has evoked an intuitive composing that increasingly characterizes my way of writing music."
Rolf Martinsson Recording: Lisa Larsson, soprano, Västerås Sinfonietta, Jönköping Sinfonietta, Hannu Koivula.
