Halla (Frost)

Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) composed Halla (Frost, 1992) as the compulsory piece for a Nordic violin and piano duo competition that was to have been held in Vaasa in 1992. For some reason, the competition had to be cancelled, however, so the piece was not premiered until July 27, 1994, by Semmy Stahlhammer and Juhani Lagerspetz at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival. Halla is in two main sections. The blocks of sound set off with massive force, and from there grow brittler, step by step. As the title the composer sought a Finnish word with a beautiful sound, and Halla alludes to precisely the increasingly brittle, “freezing” closing section. The duration of the piece is c. 8 minutues.