TAROMIRS TID (Time of Taromir)
Taromirs tid is a myth or a fairy tale, about life in a different time, at a different, slow, tempo. The way time might pass in a dream, or when we have a tiny baby. In this world the violins spin threads of sound, trilling over the bass instruments’ repeating formulas. The lowest strings of the cellos and violas are tuned down, deep down, for just as this world’s time is different, so is its timbre.
Fairy tales often draw a clear line between light and dark. Taromirs tid does too – but not in the sense that light is good and darkness evil. Here the light grows out of darkness, and the dark sounds are a precondition for light: its very foundation. And here too, somewhere, are memories of a lullaby.
Who was Taromir? Well, when I was composing this piece I told a little girl about my ideas. She listened. Then she asked, “Should it be called Taromirs tid?”
And it was.
The piece is dedicated to that little girl (who is a big girl now). May she represent children everywhere who listen and ask questions.
Karin Rehnqvist
English translation by Robin Blanton
