At a unique concert on Good Friday, big band music will meet viola da gamba for the first time in history.
UMO’s traditional Good Friday "Silent Music" concert at Mikael Agricola Church offers a rare chance to hear what the full and throaty viola da gamba* sounds like with a big band. Singer, gamba player and composer Mikko Perkola has created a programme of songs written for UMO, as well as pieces written for a smaller ensemble off his upcoming album Epitafi (due out in spring 2015), which he has arranged for the big, 16-strong band featured at the concert. The concert feature the poetry of e.g. Aila Meriluoto and Pablo Neruda, as well as Perkola’s own texts set to music. Poems by Eeva-Liisa Manner and music from the 17th century will also be heard.
– Bringing together the gamba and a big band is a courageous thing for UMO to do. As far as I know, it hasn’t been done before. I haven’t heard of anyone trying to combine early music with big band sounds before. I think it’s great that these worlds are finally meeting and the fact that it’s happening over Easter makes it that much more special. The concert offers everyone a whole new perspective on two important aspects of Easter: death and mercy, Perkola says.
The concert’s sound engineer Tuomas Norvio plays a more prominent role than usual – he is almost like another featured musician. Kari Heinilä will conduct the orchestra.
*Viola da gamba is a six-string bowed instrument developed in the 15th century and retained its popularity right up to the late 1700s. The gamba was a prominent instrument in the French court before the Revolution, after which most musical activity took place in concert halls. Johann Sebastian Bach, just to name one composer, wrote three sonatas for gamba. The instrument is played between the knees, either using a bow or plucking with fingers. It looks like a violin or cello, but really the guitar is a closer relative and the standup bass is the modern version of the bass gamba. Musicians who play early music have sparked a small-scale gamba renaissance in the classical world.
Silent Music – UMO feat. Mikko Perkola
Conductor Kari Heinilä
Good Friday 3 April 2015 at 6:00PM at Mikael Agricola Church, Tehtaankatu 23, Helsinki
Tickets at Lippupalvelu strating from 22,50 € / 17,50 € / 11,50 €, tickets also available at the doors.