Sumpfgesang

One of the most bodacious episodes in the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic tells how Joukahainen challenges the old, wise singer Vainamoinen to a competition, during which Vainamoinen sings him up to his neck into the swamp.

This scene, combining stunning and comical elements, is a great subject for a musical composition, but also holds a certain risk: it would perhaps be too obvious to depict it through an abundant, romantically expressive cantilena. This would indeed be quite dull and conventional – instead, Sumpfgesang is based on the imagination of Vainamoinen’s chant and is anything but melodical (in a traditional sense) and ostensibly clamant.

The paradoxical idea of the piece could rather be described as a 'chant without melody', characterised by an inner tension, power and diversity as well as a fragile and bizarre musical language in parts which avoids everything superficially 'melodic' yet still creates a 'breathing‘ dramaturgy and suspense.

 The quintet has largely been split into even smaller instrumental units, but there is never a single voice which dominates – in fact, the few solos are the most sparse episodes of the composition. The sections are often marked by clear cuts and harsh contrasts rather than smooth transitions, but the musical language is also colourful and sophisticated in parts, building more and more tension which culminates in an unexpectedly climactic tutti.

Benjamin Schweitzer