Di là dal fiume e tra gli alberi (Across the river and into the woods) – the title is taken from a novel by Hemingway. The central theme of the novel is death and the story is told through retrospects and various layers of symbolism.

The piece’s melody is the sum of several layers of themes from some of my previous compositions. The underlying layers are repeated with varying time offsets and letting different events shine through the uppermost sounding layer. The work uses alternative grips in order to rhythmisize individual notes and in a way get a three-dimensional experience of a tone. The different sounding variants become like different sides of the notes.

The piece is dedicated to Ann Elkjär who also performed the first time 28th March 2001 in The Concert Hall at the Academy of Music and Drama, Göteborg.

A shorter version for alto flute went to the final in a kompositionstävling organized by the ensemble Rarescale/Carla Rees and Royal College of Music in London 2004.

Ann Elkjär | 28th March 2001: