Light and Darkness

In the collective unconscious, the north has always been a place of mysteries and darkness, where nature retained its rights over mankind, where the night is pitch black, but also where the light that shines there at times is made brighter, more powerful, and awe-inspiringly beautiful in contrast. In these lands of extremes, the foothold of civilization has always seen unique cultures rise, which have been marked by their strong singularities and differences in regards of the European traditions. In music, these singularities have manifested through different approaches to the idioms of the western classical scene, and each of the 3 countries which music will be heard on this program, Russia, Estonia, and Finland, have created their own strong musical identities that, despite the close proximity of these neighboring lands, are as different and individual as their cultures are. One element, however, seems to be recurring in these 3 cultures, and is often an underlying tone expressed in their respective music: the eternal dichotomy between light and darkness, with all their possible facets, meanings, and interpretations. Each piece performed on this program, whether it is conscious or not, directly or indirectly, through the prism of human emotions or through the means of a most neutral contemplation, relates to this dichotomy and draws a parallel between the 3 unique cultures they represent. The mysteries, dreams, torments and cold that are bound to the darkness, and the hope connected to the light that opposes it, shape the melodies and the harmonies in remarkably different ways in each of the composers' own psyche.