Orchestra

Midnight Sun Variations (2019)

orchestra
11'

Publisher: Edition Wilhelm Hansen

This work for orchestra is a set of variations on the light when the sun never sets in the arctic summer night. For the northern sky above the Arctic Circle in summer reflects a rich spectrum of infinitely-nuanced hues that, as autumn draws near, become veiled in shadow until darkness slowly descends and the sun ceases to rise above the horizon. My son was born on the night when the summer’s last warm day gave way to a dawn shrouded in autumnal mist. Midnight Sun Variations is also about giving birth to new life, when the woman and the child within her part, restoring her former self as the light fades into winter. The work was commissioned by the BBC Philharmonic and The National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Midnight Sun Variations and Songs of the Ice can be performed as a pair, in either order, or individually.

Score

Premiere: August 4, 2019
BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall, London
BBC Philharmonic, cond. John Storgårds

November 21, 2019
Manchester, UK
BBC Philharmonic, cond. John Storgårds

January 17, 2020 US premiere
Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, Houston, USA
Houston Symphony, cond. John Storgårds

January 18, 2020
Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, Houston, USA
Houston Symphony, cond. John Storgårds

January 19, 2020
Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, Houston, USA
Houston Symphony, cond. John Storgårds

February 6, 2020 Finnish premiere
Turku Concert Hall, Turku, Finland
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Jukka Untamala

February 7, 2020
Turku Concert Hall, Turku, Finland
Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Jukka Untamala

February 21, 2020
Detroit, USA
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

February 22, 2020
Detroit, USA
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

February 23, 2020
Detroit, USA
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

October 15, 2021
Powell Hall, St. Louis, USA
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

October 16, 2021
Powell Hall, St. Louis, USA
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

November 16, 2021 German premiere
Stadthalle Hagen, Hagen, Germany
Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Joseph Trafton

December 6, 2021
Tampere Hall, main auditorium, Tampere, Finland
Tampere Philharmony, cond. Emilia Hoving

March 2, 2022
Madetoja Hall, Oulu, Finland
Oulu Symphony Orchestra, cond. Jukka Untamala

May 18–19, 2022 Canadian premiere
Southam Hall, Ottawa, Canada
The National Arts Centre Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

May 19, 2022
Sibelius Hall, main auditorium, Lahti, Finland
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, cond. Anna-Maria Helsing

May 20, 2022
Verkatehdas, Hämeenlinna, Finland
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, cond. Anna-Maria Helsing

November 17-19, 2022
Atlanta Symphony Hall, Atlanta, USA
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

February 10, 2023
Helsinki Music Centre, Helsinki, Finland
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Nicholas Collon

October 5, 2023
Oslo Concert Hall, Oslo, Norway
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

December 15, 2023 Austrian country premiere
Musikverein Wien, Austria
Tonkünstler-Orchester, cond. John Storgårds

December 17, 2023
Musikverein Wien, Austria
Tonkünstler-Orchester, cond. John Storgårds

December 18, 2023
St.Pölten Festspielhaus, Großer Saal
Tonkünstler-Orchester, cond. John Storgårds

February 29 - March 2, 2024
Symphony Hall, Boston, MA, USA
Boston Symphony Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

May 15, 2024
BBC Philharmonic Studio, Salford, UK
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. John Storgårds

August 30, 2024
St Peter Mancroft Church, Norwich, UK
Triorca International Youth Orchestra, cond. Nicholas Daniel

October 10–11, 2024
Stadt Theater Gießen, Gießen, Germany
Philharmonisches Orchester Gießen, cond. Andreas Schuller

January 10–11, 2025
Nordic Soundscape Festival
Orchestra Hall, Minnesota, USA
Minnesota Orchestra, cond. Thomas Søndergård

September 24–25, 2025
Konserthuset, Stockholm, Sweden
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, cond. Jukka-Pekka Saraste

September 4, 2027
Sibelius Festival
Sibelius Hall, Lahti, Finland
Lahti Symphony Orchestra, cond. Hannu Lintu