Grass is singing
The idea for Grass is singing came from the most miraculous sound I have ever heard.
photo: Minna Leinonen
For clarinet in Eb and harp (2020), arranged for flute and kantele (2022)
Duration: 6-7 minutes
Many years ago, time before smartphones, I was in a summer cottage in autumn with my friends. We went outside and heard a very strange sound coming from the soil. It was bustling, fizzing, whispering and versatile and we felt that it was moving very fast on the grass. If small gnomes would exist, it would have been them. But soon we realized that the grass was freezing.
With the help of piccolo clarinet and harp (or in the arrangement: flute and kantele) I wanted to capture the images I had from the extraordinary experience.
Grass is singing was commissioned by Fátima Boix and was composed with the help of Finnish Cultural Foundation and Arts Promotion Centre Finland, many thanks!
Reviews
Den starkaste intrycket gjorde dagens uruppförendande, Minna Leinonens Grass is singing för Essklarinett och harpa – stycket finns även I en version för flöjt och kantele – so tecknades med all tänkbar finess och inlevelse av Fàtima Boix Cantó och Marcel Cara.
Leinonens music präglas inte sällan av ett påtagligt visuellt element och även denna gång fick jag känslan av att befinna mig inför en i toner fångad målning, eller snarast akvarell. Harpan nyttjades klangligt uppfinningsrikt och subtilt och intressant var därtill att notera piccoloklarinettens uttrycksfulla lägre register.
-Mats Liljeroos, 12.3.2024 Hufvudstadsbladet
"The strongest impact was made by the first performance of the day, Minna Leinonen´s Grass is singing for E flat clarinet and harp – there is also a version for flute and kantele – which was realized with all imaginable finesse and liveliness by Fàtima Boix Cantò and Marcel Cara.
Leinonen´s music rarely lacks a touching visual element, and even now I felt like I was captured by notes in a painting, or rather in an aquarelle. The use of harp was sonorous, subtle, and interesting, also special was the use of the expressive low register of piccolo clarinet.
-Mats Liljeroos, 12th March 2024 Hufvudstadsbladet