Sikorski
“Nature and species loss may pose an even more radical threat than climate change. What's most disheartening about it is that they are the result of human activity. Greed isn't inherent to human nature, but foolishness is, and foolishness drives humans to greedily pursue their desires, heedless of the destruction they inflict upon nature.
This topic arose in my string octet, Swarm (2020), where I explored nature's decline through the collective intelligence guiding shoals of herring, vast swarms of locusts, and murmurations of starling flocks. Humans fail to grasp the functioning of these animal collectives because we lack a comparable swarm intelligence, or ‘hive mind’.
Biodegradable Kiss (2024) for flute and percussion addresses the same subject, but from a different perspective.
All organic matter decomposes. Nothing in nature goes to waste; every dying organism transforms into building blocks and sustenance for something new. Nature produces nothing futile; even the toxins of plants and animals serve a purpose for nature itself. Nature evolves endlessly, always seeking a more perfect and practical form. However, this development cannot be predicted; it involves infinite randomness. Nature endlessly reuses itself.
There is only one exception to this: humans. Only humans produce waste that is harmful and halts the progress of nature. As humans seemingly cannot halt their destruction of nature, nature must ultimately destroy humanity.
‘Biodegradable Kiss’ (2024) for flute and percussion is a depiction of natural development: music emerges as if from some invisible source – perhaps from beneath the soil? – and the initial section of the composition consists entirely of graphic notation, providing the performer with immense interpretive freedom. The music progresses into a meticulously notated middle section, where this organic development, whether it be animal, plant, or another species, flourishes into multifaceted expression and bloom. This development is facilitated by the use of bass flute, alto flute, C flute, and various percussion instruments. Towards the end of the piece, a natural withering occurs, returning to the graphic notation that enables improvisational expression. As the old and dying fades away, the birth of the new begins with a kiss.
The piece was commissioned by flutist Kaisa Kortelainen and percussionist Jerry Piipponen, both members of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and among the leading young Finnish musicians. I had an extremely fruitful workshop with them, from which I gathered a wealth of instrumental and musical ideas, some of which found their way into 'Biodegradable Kiss' as they were. Such collaboration between a composer and young, open-minded musicians is immensely rewarding!”
(Osmo Tapio Räihälä, 20.2.2024)
