Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Esa-Pekka Salonen
Helix (2005)
- Chester Music Ltd (World)
Commissioned by the BBC for the BBC Proms
- 3(pic).3(ca).2.2+cbn/4.3.3.1/timp.5perc/hp/str
- 9 min
Programme Note
I decided to compose a celebratory and direct overture-like piece, which would nevertheless be very rigidly structured, and based on essentially one continuous process. The form of Helix can indeed be described as a spiral or a coil; or more academically a curve that lies on a cone and makes a constant angle with the straight lines parallel to the base of the cone.
The process of Helix is basically that of a nine-minute accelerando. The tempo gets faster, but the note values of the phrases become correspondingly longer. Therefore only the material’s relation to the pulse changes, not necessarily the impression of speed itself. Hence the spiral metaphor: the material (which consists essentially of two different phrases) is being pushed through constantly narrowing concentric circles until the music reaches a point where it has to stop as it has nowhere to go.
The musical expression changes quite drastically in the course of these nine minutes: the idyllic, almost pastoral opening phrase for piccolo and contra-bassoon returns much later in the horns and trumpets, fortissimo, surrounded by a very busy tutti orchestra. The closing section shows the material in an almost manic light.
It has been a very inspiring task to write a piece for my friend Valery Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace, to whom Helix is dedicated. These are amazing musicians with no limits to their capacity. I have worked with many of the players over the years around the world. Writing this piece has felt like a more personal undertaking than usual.
© Esa-Pekka Salonen
The process of Helix is basically that of a nine-minute accelerando. The tempo gets faster, but the note values of the phrases become correspondingly longer. Therefore only the material’s relation to the pulse changes, not necessarily the impression of speed itself. Hence the spiral metaphor: the material (which consists essentially of two different phrases) is being pushed through constantly narrowing concentric circles until the music reaches a point where it has to stop as it has nowhere to go.
The musical expression changes quite drastically in the course of these nine minutes: the idyllic, almost pastoral opening phrase for piccolo and contra-bassoon returns much later in the horns and trumpets, fortissimo, surrounded by a very busy tutti orchestra. The closing section shows the material in an almost manic light.
It has been a very inspiring task to write a piece for my friend Valery Gergiev and the World Orchestra for Peace, to whom Helix is dedicated. These are amazing musicians with no limits to their capacity. I have worked with many of the players over the years around the world. Writing this piece has felt like a more personal undertaking than usual.
© Esa-Pekka Salonen
Media
Scores
Reviews
"Helix" starts slowly at the wide end of the cone and accelerates as it spirals to the tip. But as the tempo gets faster, Salonen lengthens the phrases to give the feeling of pressure building up as music is pushed through an increasingly small space, like icing forced through a pastry cone. The work, which lasts nine minutes, ends with an orchestra in furious motion getting louder and louder
2nd April 2007
...it was good to have a new work from Esa-Pekka Salonen. His Helix plays in virtuosic fashion with the metaphor of the spiral, with illusions of speed and acceleration.
30th August 2005
This was another example of Salonen's recent listener-friendly style, which winds itself in tighter and tighter melodic knots...
29th August 2005
... an "overture-like" miniature by Esa-Pekka Salonen, Helix, an intricately written yet lucid exercise in musical acceleration...
29th August 2005
Discography
Salonen: Helix, Piano Concerto, Dichotomie
- LabelDeutsche Grammophon
- Catalogue Number477 8103
- ConductorEsa-Pekka Salonen
- EnsembleLos Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
- SoloistYefim Bronfman
- Released4th July 2009
More Info
- Salonen's Music in The North
- 11th April 2024
- Orchestral performances of music by Esa-Pekka Salonen this April