Post-Tarrega Stress Funk (2020) is a whirlwind showcase piece for the guitar. Exceptionally demanding technically, it was composed for the guitar virtuoso Otto Tolonen, who premiered the work at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in February 2020.

A DOWNLOAD LINK TO PRACTICE SCORE IS INCLUDED IN THE PRINTED VERSION.

The work starts with exclamatory statements, followed by rapid, whisper-like figures. The first section is indeed characterized by super-fast, super-high and super-challenging playing, not forgetting the double-stops and intervals. The second section is more tranquil, matter-of-fact-like, colored with occasional bending and glissandi. The cascading figures reappear, but lead now to the third section and its quiet, repetative figures in small intervals, as if creating a continuum or a living cluster. The intervals become wider and wider, finally reaching flageolet fermatas, signaling the end of the first movement.

The second movement flows in a slower pace, with eerie intervals, bendings and sudden rapid comments. Muted and open flageolets are deployed, arriving to a lullaby-like segment before the start of the third movement. The Third movement is a nailbiting showcase of how using both hands can expand the expressivity of the guitar. Glissandi with and without nail, simultaneously in both directions, up and down. Before the soloist is worn out by the challenges, the fourth movement starts and re-emphasizes some of the features from earlier movements. Rapid cascades, high arpeggios, double-stops and intervals, underlining certain figures.

Towards the end, the volume grows louder and louder, until finally the last super-high repetitive notes resolve in a final arpeggio.

Antti Auvinen studied composition at the Amsterdam Conservatory and Sibelius Academy. His early works were mainly chamber music for solo instruments and different ensembles. Auvinen directed his attention to orchestral works starting in the mid-2010's. Orchestral triptych Junker Twist - Himmel Punk - Turbo Aria were received enthusiastically in Finland. In 2016 Auvinen's multimedia composition Autuus was awarded with the prestigious Teosto Prize. Auvinen's style differs from the mainstream Finnish modernism and stand out as fresh and imaginative works. He is interested in the rhythm, the timble, expanded playing techniques and bringing different objects into the sounding reality of an ensemble.