Lauri Porra: Matter and Time Vantaan Viihdeorkesteri & Dalia Stasevska

• 1 Beginning 04:24
• 2 Attraction 01:30
• 3 Energy 04:43
• 4 Evolution 08:35
• 5 Consciousness 05:59
• 6 The End 03:22
• 7 Fall of Man 07:39
• 8 Requiem Mundi 06:20
• 9 Epilogue 02:21
• 10 Future 05:29
• Total Runtime 50:22

Info for Lauri Porra: Matter and Time

Revered Finnish composer and musician Lauri Porra has announced his new album Matter & Time, out April 19 th via Platoon. The composition is a musical love letter to the universe, using the words of the celebrated astronomer and writer Esko Valtaoja, as spoken by the actor, author and broadcaster Stephen Fry. It also features lyrical contributions from Paula Vesala.

Scored for narrator, large orchestra, choir, electric ensemble and vocal soloist, Lauri Porra’s Matter&Time takes us on a voyage from the very beginnings of the universe, the birth of the carbon atom and the first murmurings of life on earth. Over its 40 minutes across 10 tracks, we travel through the lifespan of our solar system and 100s of billions of years onward as the universe starts to die. What survives us is the love we have for one another—spelt out in binary ones and zeros. Science and human experience in perfect harmony.

Despite its scientific theme, Porra’s inspirations for his ambitious work were church mass settings, composed centuries ago when the creation story was the accepted explanation of life on earth, and everything was predestined by a supreme deity. “When you listen to music by Bach, you can sense this immense gratitude and love towards God,” says Porra.

“I wasinterested in this, the depth of love and this sacredness, but I wanted my piece to be a testament of love and gratefulness towards the universe.” Porra embarked on a quest to discover whether a person could love the universe with the same intensity of devotion. “Instead of a religious text,” he says, “I started to wonder whether I could use one based on scientific ideas.”

Originally composed in 2018, Matter & Time was commissioned and premiered by Finland’s Vantaa Orchestra, and draws on many of Porra’s musical influences, from rock and pop to cinema, and the great orchestral scores of the 20th century. In 2024 it is now released in recorded form for the very first time.

“I always think of music as a toolbox,” says Porra of his diverse musical background in classical, rock, metal, jazz and film music. “People create sound to evoke a reaction – that is the basis of music. It doesn’t change because of its style or purpose, or because of where the music is made. For me, all music is the same.”

Matter & Time opens at the dawn of time itself with ‘Beginning’. “Here we are. Here is life, here is the universe. Welcome.” Stephen Fry’s amiably authoritative voice sets us on our existential path while all around, orchestral sounds emerge like primordial life, coalescing, rising as if from nothing. Elements start to form in ‘Attraction’, where breathy vocals from singer Ringa Manner draw parallels between human interaction and the movements of atoms and particles.

We move seamlessly to ‘Energy’, with thrumming strings, drums and vocal melody, again sung by Ringa Manner, all jostling and colliding in different tempos and rhythms, mirroring the fluctuation of time throughout the universe. ‘Evolution’ takes us on a dizzying ride through billions of years from the birth of stars and planets to the beginnings of biological life, and onwards to the ascent of man, “a child of the stars, a grandchild of the universe”.

Porra’s music follows the trajectory of Fry’s powerful narration, molecules dividing and evolving to the sound of skittering woodwind and digital chatterings. And as man looks towards the stars and announces to the universe, “I am”, Porra marks this seminal moment with a hypnotic, anthemic rock motif while fantastical film music accompanies the “dance of natural selection” in what Porra calls his “ballet scene”. As man conquers space, the movement ends in a glorious union of rock and orchestral music.

A lusciously orchestrated pop song frames ‘Consciousness’, exploring the idea of the awakening mind, the realisation of self and the search for meaning. We return to Fry’s narration with ‘The End’, as the sun dies after “a thousand billion mornings” and the story of life on earth comes to a violent close.

“Perhaps,” says Fry, “matter is not the only thing that exists.” ‘Fall Of Man’ heralds a cinematic soundscape of organ, full orchestra, percussion and wordless vocals, the music descending into cacophony and chaos, on a path to self-destruction. And ‘Requiem Mundi’ (Requiem for the World) rises from the ashes, a hushed chorale scored for strings, and a lone heartbeat and culminates in a state of deep love and gratitude.

For the ‘Epilogue’, Fry theorises on the future of humankind: “Our life continues in our children and in our deeds, the life of the cosmos continues in us. How high will the fifth stage of evolution reach? Now we transform the Earth; perhaps in the far future we will transform the Universe.” But what is our true legacy? In ‘Future’, a choir intones in binary, the zeros and ones spelling out “rakkaus”, the Finnish word for “love”, wrapped up in orchestral and electronic music of ever increasing, driving energy – and pure joy. “Most of our life is a celebration of love,” says Porra. “and it’s love that gives us meaning and purpose.”

Vantaan Viihdeorkesteri
Lauri Porra, direction
Dalia Stasevska, conductor
Stephen Fry, narrator

Dalia Stasevska
Stasevska’s charismatic and dynamic musicianship has established her as a conductor of exceptional versatility. Chief Conductor of Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Artistic Director to the International Sibelius Festival, Dalia also holds the post of Principal Guest Conductor of BBC Symphony Orchestra. She has made several appearances at the BBC Proms including the First Night of the Proms in 2023.

In 2023/24, Dalia will guest conduct The Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,Danish National Symphony Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Deutsches Symphonie-OrchesterBerlin, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Berner Symphonieorchester, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and West Australian Symphony Orchestra.

Recent engagements have included orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw Hall, Amsterdam.

Last season, with BBC Symphony Orchestra, she embarked on a six-concert tour to Japan with soloists Sol Gabetta, Nicola Benedetti and Roderick Williams. In spring 2024, Dalia and BBC Symphony Orchestra collaborate on a Total Immersion project focussing on Missy Mazzoli. Performing works of living composers is a core part of Dalia’s programming, and with Lahti Symphony Orchestra, they present works by Andrew Norman, Thomas Adès, Helen Grime, KaijaSaariaho and Outi Tarkianen, to name a few.

A passionate opera conductor, 2023 saw Dalia’s highly successful debut at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival with a revival of the iconic Peter Hall production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In previous seasons, she returned to Finnish National Opera and Ballet to conduct a double bill of Poulenc’s La voix humane and Weill’s Songs with Karita Mattila, and to Norske Opera to conduct Madama Butterfly and Lucia di Lammermoor. Other productions include Don Giovanni with Kungliga Opera Stockholm, directed by Ole Anders Tandberg, Cunning Little Vixen with Finnish National Opera and Sebastian Fagerlund’s Höstsonaten at the 2018 Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm, featuring Anne-Sofie von Otter.

Her debut solo album Dalia’s Mixtape with BBC Symphony Orchestra released in Spring 2024 on Platoon features ten tracks of some of the freshest sounds in contemporary music. Released one month at a time with music by genre-bending composers such as Anna Meredith, Caroline Shaw, Andrea Tarrodi, Noriko Koide, Judith Weir and others. In June 2023 together with Lahti Symphony Orchestra and pianist Olli Mustonen, she released piano concerti by Rautavaara and Martinu on BIS.

Dalia originally studied as a violinist and composer at the Tampere Conservatoire and subsequently violin, viola and conducting at the Sibelius Academy. As a conductor her teachers include Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam. In December 2018, she had the honour of conducting Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm. She was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Conductor Award in 2020, Alfred Kordelin Prize in 2022 and BBC Music Magazine’s Personality of the Year award in 2023.

Dalia was bestowed the Order of Princess Olga of the III degree by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in October 2020 for her significant personal contribution to the development of international cooperation, strengthening the prestige of Ukraine internationally and popularisation of its historical and cultural heritage. Since February 2022, she has actively been supporting Ukraine by raising donations to buy supplies and on a number of occasions delivering them herself.

This album contains no booklet.