Leif Segerstam, Monumental Thoughts 1989

Live recording from a Helsinki Festival with the Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer. This work is also called "Orchestral Diary Sheet No. 18". Segerstam is native to Finland, born in the city of Vaasa in 1944. Of the "Thoughts" series, he says, "It comes from my freely pulsating, post impressionist, neo-romantic world of sounds from a bold unconscious, open to an atmosphere of free association".
"In 'Thoughts 1989' my impressions of the Nordic summer are especially energetic, tense, and coloured by a strength of will". "I needed some humoristic spices, so the piece contains a number of glissando belly laughs on the slidewhistle and murmurings among the brass". "Meditative and questioning periods alternate with melodic, singable sections in the strings. And if the compositional freedom leads to screaming volcanic chaos, the antidote lies in collecting the thoughts in unison pillars in the Brucknerian manner".
"The family relationship in the 'Thoughts' series lies in their treatment of a completely free atonality in the so-called free-pulsative style which is a practical mixture of bar-notated music with a completely free style commencing at exact points, but which can then develop naturally, and is free to land where it will in organic terms, creating its own microcosmos".
He continues, "I hope that the listener will find my organic musical kaleidoscope, which was inspired by true Nordic Nature mysticism (the experience of summer), to be a stimulating experience".
This recording comes from the BIS label CD-583, which contains two other works: "Thoughts 1990 for Soloistic String Quartet and Orchestra " (26'56"), and "Monumental Thoughts 1989 - In Memoriam Martti Talvela" (19'01"), both recorded in live concerts in Copenhagen - the latter being the World Premier Performance.
The video images are not specific to any of these recordings. The concert hall shown is the new DR Concert Hall which was opened in Copenhagen in January 2009.

[@giuseppedimarco8358]

Fantastic! Music!

[@9827george]

this recording is not "Monumental Thoughts", but "Thoughts 1989". The text you added explains this already. Monumental Thoughts is a differnet work, and so is Thoughts 1990 - both part of the CD from which this work also derives.

[@leifsegerstam1937]

born in the city of vasa not helsinki northwestfinland, ostrobotnia bottomland , l.s.

[@michaelberridge1934]

Leif Segerstam Thank you. I have made a correction in the introduction, using the spelling Vaasa from the Philip's World Atlas.