Kalevi Aho

Concerto

Kalevi Aho's Concerto for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra (2018) is in seven movements performed without a break and each using the guitar in a different way. The fairly slow introduction-like movement is followed by a virtuosic Allegro molto in which the guitar is also used like a percussion instrument in places as the soloist taps out rhythms on the soundboard. Motifs from the Introduzione reappear in the Interludio, and in the lyrical, singing Andante cantabile that follows. In the Misterioso movement the guitarist plays only flageolet notes. The sixth movement, Presto, is the other virtuoso one in the concerto. The Presto is the concerto's dynamic climax. From then onwards, the music subsides to a slow Epilogue, gradually retreating into silence.