Aho, Kalevi: Sonate no. 2, Black Birds 20′

My second sonata for accordion ‘Black Birds’ was written in 1990 on the initiative of Marjut Tynkkynen and inspired by the first sonata. In this second sonata I have tried above all to explore the accordion world of timbre. Technically it again taxes the performer to the extremes, demanding the utmost sensitivity and a sovereign command of the instrument. In seeking new vistas on the world of timbre I resorted not so much to special effects, which are in fact somewhat limited in number, as to chordal effects and the combination of various types of structure.

Each of the five movements in the sonata was inspired by bird song — not that of any specific species, for the bird song in this work is the abstract twittering of the imagination and dream. At the same time it is the psychological bird song of the workings of the mind. To give an example: the fifth movement ‘Black Birds’ begins by creating a despondent, silent soulscape that is then made all the more despairing by the clear, simple chirping of a bird. The initial world is no longer capable of pulling itself together, it is irrevocably shattered.

The first two movements follow on from one another without a break, as do the last three movements. Marjut Tynkkynen gave the first performance of the second sonata at the Sata-Häme Accordion Festival at Ikaalinen on June 8, 1991.

I have dedicated both the first and the second sonata to Marjut Tynkkynen.