I didn´t expect to be so inspired by my own work long gone past. But listening to “fäänä: pathétique” reminded me of the pure joy of music making — not just as a composer but as a singer, instrumentalist and producer. The EP sure is wild in its solutions and expression. I honestly didn´t remember having had such an artistically free moment before as it is typical of me to always look forward and reject the past.
For some time already I have been working on a quartet with bass clarinet, strings and piano. Yes, I like the music a lot. But for some reason — after revisiting pathétique — I am starting to feel that my heart is telling me to look somewhere else. I feel the inspiration rising when I think about creating a new pathétique of sorts but clearly in my new art music aesthetics. At the same time I feel the quartet is starting to head under the header: “Music you are supposed to do.”
Well, I have a long history of eventually doing precisely the opposite than what I am supposed to do. Here I go again! Yes — why couldn´t a serious composer also be a singer-songwriter and a musician? Why couldn´t I compose also for the purpose of getting to go to the studio and record also my own singing and playing and enjoying it immensely? For years I have thought the musicianship would not be important to me. After listening to pathétique I stand corrected and feel I have neglected something vital.
So I am already planning a new concept. I will probably take a break from the bass clarinet quartet. I will probably create a multiple movement work and from the beginning arrange it so that every single track can be recorded in a studio — without using pro samples at all. In a world that is driven by computers right at this moment I feel I want to take my music to a more natural direction. Of course I have always been a fan of studio techniques and plan on remaining like that, but the actual tracks — I want them to be audio tracks from the beginning. Not midi or pro sample instrument tracks. To create powerful music and soundscapes with audio tracks, to let oneself run free not only as a composer but as a musician… This is something.
To get to open up my vocal chords I might even take some singing lessons again! I am also thinking about buying an electric cello. I do have a bowed bass and a 5-string violin with a low C string (same as viola) but a cello would be a lovely addition. With my aerophone, piano and acoustic guitars there is already a lot to compose for and play. Then to have some studio musicians on top of it. To get to sing! To really focus on composing something for my voice, concentrate on doing it well — and not just record something in a rush “because I am a composer, not a musician”.
Welcome on a journey! I call it the Path of a Composer. The idea is to post key pieces of my music from along the years and hopefully put some light on how I have developed aesthetically, in my craftsmanship and of course also artistically — resulting in these days where I am finally ready to proudly launch myself as a composer of modern art music. It is time for Chapter IV.
fäänä: pathétique (EP from 2008)
Chapter III was all about me finding progressive rock. It was wonderful to be the lead singer of a band and truly get to create the kind of rock I had always wanted to. It was a thrill! Nevertheless, like I wrote, great intensity tends to come with a price. In my case it meant that I got tired of the heavy democracy and constant negotiating and communication that surrounded the music making. Great rock intensity also resulted in me wanting a musical contrast.
No, I didn´t want to stop, I wanted to move forward and create more music to put out there but Discordia wasn´t ready to start creating another recording right after Utopia Perfection. That´s completely understandable — and so I quickly understood that I needed to create a solo EP.
My starting point for the EP was for the sound to be something completely different than the Discordia sound. First decisions: no electric guitars, no synthesizers, all vocals by myself and acoustic grand piano into every track! The second decision: I would do exactly what I wanted and not think for one second what other people wanted from the album!
I was very aware of the musical duality within me — the seemingly strong contrast between western (classical) art music and rock music. When I started to compose pathétique it was a given that the work would balance between the two worlds in a way that would be completely honest to myself. I thought it would even be likely that some if not most people would be surprised about at least some aspects of the music. Yet great contrasts within the musical material and expression while remaining coherent was a core value then and it remains a core value even to this day. I want to surprise even myself.
I Prelude is classical piano music in one of my favourite keys: C# minor. It sets the mood of the pathétique suite. In the very ending there are quotes of all the other 4 movements on top of the C# minor arpeggios — which of course indicates that the pieces are very closely related.
II Mist is a somewhat crazy piece! It has multiple dimensions to it. First of all I created my own samples. I recorded drum hits played by Otto from Discordia yet together with the sound engineer Harri Kentala we isolated the samples and put them where we wanted. I also sang samples for the repetitive type of sung gestures without words, inspired by “Leave it” by Yes. The saxophones were played by Henri Haapakoski without sampling and so were of course my lines that have lyrics to them, also longer melodic lines. There is no bass guitar or electric guitar but we put a grand piano through distortion and an amplifier. There is a lot of repetition in Mist which results in creating a rather impactful and majestic whole. I am particularly proud of my a cappella vocal polyphony in the middle section.
III Balloon is a classical influenced pop song with me playing the piano and singing on top of it, without vocal harmonies. Henri plays the flute. The middle section has him doing improvisation. Balloon obviously operates as the slow movement in the middle of the suite.
IV Pathos again features the grand piano put through distortion. I also sang glissandos and we created samples of those tracks and placed them around according to my score. The lyrics were so personal (I thought at the time) in this one that I decided not to print them out and have them whispered and obscured by reverb and delay instead. Well, it suits the movement well and people will get the anxiety even without any words.
V Via Delle Quattro Fontane has a funny story. We were in Rome in 2007. There were ambulances driving around and they had this crazy siren. I took the melody and rhythm of the siren sound and created a piece based on it! After all it was part of the soundtrack of Rome for us. The finale of pathétique is a peculiar piece in many ways: there is a 5 part rock canon in the middle, for example. 😉 It is a combination of classical music and progressive rock. It is indeed the only movement that actually features a drummer, a bass player and an acoustic guitar player (all from Discordia). Yet by discarding the piano distortion I aimed at getting rid of the “mist” that was put on top of everything earlier on. Henri plays the Bass Clarinet he bought from me after I decided I didn´t have enough time or energy to play it myself. The combination of acoustic guitar, bass clarinet and vocal harmonies is radiant just like the Roman sun.
I have composed only 2 love songs in my life — as far as I remember. Via Delle Quattro Fontane is the first one! It was our first trip abroad together. The lyrics of pathétique are more personal than those on my other albums and the finale, Via Delle Quattro Fontane, still manages to fill me with cathartic joy when the mist (echoed or distorted piano) finally vanishes and the sun begins to shine. Yes, we are still together — next year it will be 20 years! I let the lyrics and the music speak for themselves.
To be honest, despite the fact that I tend to be very critical of my own music, I was positively surprised when visiting pathétique again. There is something very honest and genuine about the 20+ minutes. Also, if I may say so, my vocals have never sounded better, as I did not have the pressure of doing it ROCK in this one. When I started this blog series I thought all of it would kind of lead to the symphony where I would be at my most authentic and finally freed myself. But I must say I seem to be artistically just as free in pathétique as I am in the symphony.
The questions I am asking now: why couldn´t a composer of art music be a singer-songwriter? Pathétique reminded me that I should not forget about my own musicianship. It is also pushing me to the direction of preferring acoustic instruments in the studio in the future.
My first solo album was liked by most who got to know it yet I do remember that it alienated many friends of Discordia music. I have considered myself an underground indie art musician ever since. Due to fäänä: pathétique many people in Finland still call me “fäänä”!
The next chapter (V) will feature a piece that was my first step into truly symphonic music — a piece I am still immensely proud of, one of my best ever. Yet it will also tell a story of a failure — biting more than I could chew while producing my next solo album, all 50+ minutes (too much!) of it. It is my only recording I have withdrawn and refuse to sell. Luckily a few tracks are amongst the best I have ever created.
