Available on hire by Chester Music Ltd. for the world except for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Faroe Islands, and Greenland.

Published by Norsk Musikforlag A/S for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Faroe Islands, and Greenland.

  • 3(pic).2+ca.2.3/4331/timp.4perc/hp/str
  • 17 min

Programme Note

I wrote ID as part of my composition studies in Oslo. I was working myself out of a deep depression following some severe personal losses, including the death of my sister. The work on the piece and diving into my own mind in therapy merged into one all-consuming process, the two streams reinforcing one another and urging each other on.

According to Sigmund Freud, the ‘id’ (Latin for ‘it’) is the unorganised part of the human personality that contains the basic, instinctive drives. By giving the work the title ‘ID’ I made it apparent that I was “going private”, something that have stayed clear of ever since – until my trumpet concerto Fisher King. My music has always been closely linked to my personal and spiritual development, but rather than indulging in navel-gazing I have focussed on the fascinating world around us.

But mining deep enough in the human mind does not have to be self-indulgent. In helpless weeping, in utter rage or in sexual or religious bliss, we are no longer ‘private’. We have no name, we have no face, we enter a universal sphere where the ego disappears and we become transpersonal. And there is an inexhaustible power hidden in that sphere. How deep I managed to go in this music as an inexperienced composer is open for discussion, but I still appreciate the sincerity and youthful power of the piece.

Programme note © 2015 Rolf Wallin

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Wallin: ID

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