Human w/Rites
Human w/Rites was written as part of the Korvat auki association and Musica Nova festival’s joint
project commissioning pieces from four composers for a festival concert in 2025.
project commissioning pieces from four composers for a festival concert in 2025.
In line with the festival’s theme “togetherness”, I started exploring ideas about the things that
people do together and collectively. The first thought was that I want to break the usual classical
and contemporary music pattern of every player being confined in their part at all times – the piece
is for seven players but has an eighth part which is performed collectively by all the players
whenever they are not preoccupied with their own instrumental parts.
I then thought about rites and rituals and became obsessed with the English language homophone
rite/write/right/Wright (+ the near-homophone riot). Human rights, human rites, human writes. I
decided to incorporate some writing-related props like pens and paper, chanting, body percussion,
and other gestures that evoke rites and rituals. A section of the piece is also improvisatory, so every
player also gets to “write” a part of the work themselves.
Human w/Rites was mostly composed in the AADK Cruce residency at Centro Negra in Blanca,
Spain, in November 2024. I would like to thank the Finnish Culture Foundation (SKR)
for the mobility grant that enabled this highly creative residency period. The piece is dedicated to an
extremely friendly street cat called Michi, who spends a lot of time around Centro Negra and
repeatedly tried to enter our apartment during the residency.
people do together and collectively. The first thought was that I want to break the usual classical
and contemporary music pattern of every player being confined in their part at all times – the piece
is for seven players but has an eighth part which is performed collectively by all the players
whenever they are not preoccupied with their own instrumental parts.
I then thought about rites and rituals and became obsessed with the English language homophone
rite/write/right/Wright (+ the near-homophone riot). Human rights, human rites, human writes. I
decided to incorporate some writing-related props like pens and paper, chanting, body percussion,
and other gestures that evoke rites and rituals. A section of the piece is also improvisatory, so every
player also gets to “write” a part of the work themselves.
Human w/Rites was mostly composed in the AADK Cruce residency at Centro Negra in Blanca,
Spain, in November 2024. I would like to thank the Finnish Culture Foundation (SKR)
for the mobility grant that enabled this highly creative residency period. The piece is dedicated to an
extremely friendly street cat called Michi, who spends a lot of time around Centro Negra and
repeatedly tried to enter our apartment during the residency.
The audio on the website is a combination of MIDI and my own demo recordings.
The sheet music is available through the Music Finland Core service.