Sonata da chiesa I

Jyrki Linjama composed Sonata da chiesa I for piano as a commission from the Carinthischer Sommer festival in Austria and premiered by Juho Pohjonen at Ossiach Abbey in summer 2010. The title alludes to the sonata tradition of the Baroque at its weightiest and most solemn. The polyphonic church sonata with its strict adherence to form for a long time occupied an important role in the liturgy (as distinct from the sonata da camera). Linjama's modern application of this tradition articulates features of the liturgy: breathing, bells, shades of darkness and light. The closed Miserere of the opening movement opens out in the middle movements to let in light, which the angelic song of the last movement once again encloses in translucent twilight. Each of the four movements uses a medieval melody as its material.