HKO: Ad Spiram

Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor Iveta Apkalna, organ Sebastian Fagerlund: Organ Concerto “Ad Spiram” (Wed.) Anton Bruckner: Symphony No 6 “Ad Spiram means in Latin loosely ‘towards the spiral’ or ‘towards the whirl’, ” says Sebastian Fagerlund about the name of his organ concerto. “The Latin word ‘spirare’ also means to breathe. These two meanings have been strongly present in my mind during the composition phase. I have had an abstract image of an air current that coils spirally together and the idea of the instrument itself breathing.” “When I discovered the music of Anton Bruckner and Gustav Mahler in my late teenage years, I knew there was something I wanted to fully understand.” Bruckner’s music has become over the years important to Jukka‑Pekka Saraste. “He was a humble person with an incredible will beneath the surface. Such duality in his personality greatly inspires me.”