for solo piano. Duration c. 5′
Commissioned by Tiina Karakorpi. Premiered by Karakorpi in Maryn sormenjäljillä -concert series in Gallen-Kallela Museum, Tarvaspää, Espoo 11.5.2025. The concert can be heard in Yle Areena until 22.6.2025 https://areena.yle.fi/1-74081969.
Tombeau pour un enfant was composed in memory of Mary and Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s firstborn, who died in infancy. This sad event touched me deeply when I heard about it, as I have experienced two miscarriages myself, and they have been the saddest and heaviest experiences of my life. There are very few events in the work, and the most important part is a kind of “shadows” of the notes played, resonances of different colours, which the pianist creates by pressing down the keys silently. These shadows color the actual notes played and help us get under the surface into the world of different emotions. Towards the end of the work, I quote my own lullaby Tule uni, uinottamah from my Karelian song cycle (2014) for soprano and vibraphone. I composed the lullaby when my own firstborn was little. In this work, it takes the viewer to memories of a lost child.