Works
Soloists and orchestra
The Lustful Mother (2018)
song cycle for baritone, string orchestra/ string quartet and piano
version for mezzo-soprano, string quartet and piano
30'
I The Time of the Lustful Mother
II A Breath of Wind
III Night or Day
IV Still Shines Within Me
V Hallowed Be
Publisher: Edition Wilhelm Hansen
Naarasäiti (The Lustful Mother) is about becoming a mother, an experience in which sexuality combines in a natural way with the birth of a new life. The texts of the cycle are from the collections of poems Äitejä, tyttäriä (Árbeeadni, The Time of the Lustful Mother, 2013) and Kylmä kumppani (Galbma rádna, My Cold Companion, 1999) by two contemporary Sámi poets, Rauni Magga Lukkari and Rose-Marie Huuva. The poems’ primitive, matriarchal beat is present throughout in the music: a dark, earthy solo viola accompanies the baritone while the sizzling, sparkling strings erupt at times in powerful textures. The work was commissioned by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, the Hetta Music Festival and Rauma Festivo.
"And as I felt
the contractions the first time
I began to understand:
it is not me
not my mind
not the great love
that guides my life
My will is nothing
but a tiny girl
a mosquito’s step
a breath of wind
compared to the urgings
of my body”
–Rauni Magga Lukkari
English translation by Kaija Anttonen
Premiere: September 28, 2019
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, cond. Anna-Maria Helsing
sol. Aarne Pelkonen, baritone
April 21, 2019
Hetta Music Festival, Finland
sol. Aarne Pelkonen, baritone
Kokkola Quartet
Paavali Jumppanen, piano
August 7, 2019
Rauma Festivo, Finland
sol. Aarne Pelkonen, baritone, Reetta Kataja and Siljamari Heikinheimo, violin, Riitta-Liisa Ristiluoma, viola,
Samuli Peltonen, cello and Kirill Kozlovski, piano
November 2, 2021
Oulainen Music Week, Finland
sol. Virpi Räisänen, mezzo-soprano
Kokkola Quartet
Johanna Tilus, piano
November 4, 2022
FRSO's Red Nose Day -concert, Finnish Television 1
sol. Aarne Pelkonen, baritone
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Anna-Maria Helsing
March 10, 2023
Adelaide Festival, Australia
UKARIA Cultural Centre, Mount Barker Summit, Adelaide
Judith Dodsworth, mezzo-soprano
Australian String Quartet and Konstantin Shamray, piano, cond. Jeffrey Means
July 12, 2023
Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival
Tuupala Primary School, Kuhmo, Finland
Virpi Räisänen, mezzo-soprano
Danel Quartet and Irina Zahharenkova, piano
November 22, 2025 (movements 4 and 5)
RUSK Festival
Schauman Hall, Pietarsaari, Finland
Aarne Pelkonen, baritone
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, cond. Anna-Maria Helsing