Conversion

An idea for the present work materialized in the Spring of 2019 by the suggestion of my colleague and friend, pianist Harri Saarinen. At the time I was on the professional additional training education in the Lahti Conservatory. A few months earlier my biblical composition, Do not let your hearts be troubled for soprano and chamber orchestra, had been finished, and the world premiere performance had taken place on 20 March 2019 at the Church of the Cross (Ristinkirkko), Lahti, Finland. The music had made a deep impression and thus prepared a natural musical continuum on the religious-based set of works. The writing process of the short score lasted only a bit under three weeks, from 1st to 18th April 2019, albeit the finishing touch of the piano texture required a bit over two additional months, and the work was in the end finished on 27 June 2019.

Despite its dramatic character and versatile content, the story on the conversion of Paul the Apostle on the road to the city of Damascus has not produced a wide range of musical works. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) touches briefly the event in a recitative in his mighty oratorio St. Paul (1834-36). Letters of Saint Paul have been a source of inspiration for many composers, especially Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) who used the verses in his A German Requiem (Op. 45, 1865-1869) as well as at the end of his life in Four Serious Songs (Op. 121, 1896). Fixing this grievance was the most significant factor behind the composing process. Another noticeable factor was the already mentioned effective nature of the story, which made it ideal to be composed.

Conversion is a descriptive work, demanding fantaisie de concert, following the Bible story and musically re-telling it. From the stylistic point of view, the work is influenced by Franz Liszt (1811-1886) and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the latter especially in the second half of the work. Musical paragons include Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor (1853) as well as his Dante Sonata (1849); Mendelssohn’s Songs without Words also were as a whole the source of inspiration. The work consists of nine sections, followed by an epilogue, and are linked to each other without interruption. The recommended total time of the work is ca. 15 minutes.

The world premiere performance took place on 28 November 2022 in the Small Auditorium, Tampere Hall, Finland, performed by Ville Hautakangas. The present edition, published on July 1st, 2024, is the definite printing, featuring a complete visual overhaul in terms of the text sections and the notation, including anew fingerings by Ville Hautakangas.