Harri Wessman's Concertino for trumpet and string orchestra Peilejä (Mirrors) was premiered by its dedicatée Sanna Haarla and Juvenalia Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Rainer Palas, in Espoo (Finland) October 28, 1997. Suitable for student / pupil orchestra, the concertino follows fully Wessman's principle: "I don’t write children’s music. Stylistically I write in the same way as for professionals; technically, the pieces just have to be easier to play. Most difficult of all is writing for children who are complete beginners. The pieces need to be rich in expression, and in order to achieve this, you have to make full use of everything that’s idiomatic in the instrument. You also have to include elements that are natural to the present day and age: timbres, special effects that are easy to produce, and so on. Not just for the sake of it, however, but to reinforce the musical message."

Duration: 17'

Movements:
I Moderato
II Andante
III Adagio – Molto allegro

This product includes the solo part written in Bb and C and the piano reduction. Full score and string parts available separately (ISMN 9790550119543).

Harri Wessman (b. 1949) is interested in all aspects of music that may be expressive, without in any way ignoring the possibilities of melody. He himself describes his harmonic method as a kind of contrapuntally treated jazz harmony. Wessman is particularly preoccupied with the ability of music to express emotions, an interest which has led him to study the so-called doctrine of the affections and the musical rhetoric of the baroque era. His Eine kleine Figurenlehre for wind quartet and piano is a playful application of a set of baroque musical figures.

His output is dominated by chamber and vocal music as well as a number of concertos for various instruments such as the Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra and the Serenade for Piano and String Orchestra. During recent years pedagogic music has become a more and more central area in his output with an emphasis on creating repertoire for budding musicians, from beginners to young professionals. He has even tailored some solo and chamber works for young musicians that he personally knows: e.g. Five Trombone Pieces for Minna Kajander (1992), Five Horn Pieces for Jenni Kuronen (1993), Five Piano Etudes for Tiina Karakorpi, Five Trumpet Pieces for Alevtina Parland and Five Double Bass Pieces for Amanda Thieme. Other chamber and solo pieces include Pan and the Nymph Pitys (1979) for flute and guitar, Three Caprices for Konstantin Weitz (1994) for solo violin and Capriccio for wind ensemble (1989).