| Commissioned | |
| Publisher | Gehrmans Musikförlag |
| Category | Accordion solo |
| Year | 2022 |
| Duration | 14 min |
| Opus Number | 83 |
| Movements | I. Wind II. Waves III. Rain IV. Sun V. Tide VI. Earth VII. Geothermal Heat VI. Wind Power |
Program note
Renewables for accordion solo is a commission by the The Finnish Association for Accordion Teachers for the 50th anniversary of the children’s accordion competition “Minä Soitan Harmonikkaa” – “I Play Accordion”. The competition has three age categories, C for musicians who are 10-11 year old, B for 12-13 year old players and A for 14-16 year old accordionists. Renewables consists of 8 pieces of which the first three are suitable for category C, pieces 4-6 are suitable for category B and the last two pieces are for category A. Renewables is also composed so that it can be performed as a suite with eight movements.
Renewables is inspired by different forms of renewable energy: wind, waves, rain, sun, tide and geothermal heat.
Wind Power
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion, also called wind. Wind power or wind energy mostly menas the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines, which are connected to the electric power transmission network.
In 2021, wind supplied over 1800 TWh of electricity, which was over 6% of the world electricity.
Wave Power
Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC). Wave power is distinct from tidal power, which captures the energy of the current caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon.
Wave-power generation is not a widely employed commercial technology compared to other established renewable energy sources such as wind power, hydropower and solar power. However, there have been attempts to use this source of energy since at least 1890 mainly due to its high power density.
The theoretical annual energy potential of waves off the coasts of the United States is estimated to be as much as 2.64 trillion kWh, or the equivalent of about 66% of U.S. electricity generation in 2020.
Rain Power
Rain power is still very new and not much used. New hybrid solar panels to capture energy from rain, kinetic energy from falling raindrops is effectively turned into electrical energy.
Rain can also be used to create power through rain gutter power. It is basically a miniature of hydropower, the power created by water flowing downwards. Commonly hydropower uses the force of large dams and floods and converts it to electricity, but blocking these natural water resources is quite bad for the water ecosystems. Hydropower created by rain is not very efficient at the moment, but can be a useful addition to small households for being self sufficient in remote places with unreliable electricity grids.
Solar Power
Solar power is the conversion of renewable energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV), indirectly using concentrated solar power, or a combination.
Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic effect. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.
Solar power generates now (in 2022) 4% of the world’s electricity, compared to 1% in 2015, when the Paris Agreement to limit climate change was signed. The International Energy Agency said in 2021 that under its “Net Zero by 2050” scenario solar power would contribute about 20% of worldwide energy consumption, and solar power would be the world’s largest source of electricity.
Tidal Power
Tidal power captures the energy of the currents caused by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon. Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
Although not yet widely used, tidal energy has the potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than the wind and the sun. Among sources of renewable energy, tidal energy has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability. However, many recent technological developments and improvements, both in design and turbine technology indicate that the total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed and that costs, both economic and environmental, may be brought down to competitive levels.
The total energy contained in tides worldwide is 3,000 gigawatts (GW; billion watts), though estimates of how much of that energy is available for power generation by tidal barrages are between 120 and 400 GW, depending on the location and the potential for conversion. By comparison, a typical new coal-based generating plant produces about 550 megawatts (MW; million watts).
Geothermal Heat
Geothermal heat is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 26 countries, while geothermal heating is in use in 70 countries.
Geothermal power is considered to be a sustainable, renewable source of energy because the heat extraction is small compared with the Earth’s heat content. The greenhouse gas emissions of geothermal electric stations are on average 45 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of electricity – that is less than 5 percent of that of conventional coal-fired plants.
As a source of renewable energy for both power and heating, geothermal has the potential to meet 3-5% of global demand by 2050.
Review
Cecilia Damström’s captivating fourteen-minute suite for accordion, Renewables, op. 83 (2022), is conceived as a competition piece for young players, commissioned by The Finnish Association for Accordion Teachers. Devised in the manner of transcendental etudes, somewhat, the eight-movement suite becomes increasingly virtuosic as it goes, culminating with a heated penultimate piece and a powerhouse finale. As suggested by its title, the suite is inspired by different forms of renewable energy: wind, waves, rain, sun, tide and geothermal heat.
A feast of idiomatic onomatopoeia, Renewables makes great use of the instrument’s evocative potential, as it conjures up some splendid musical imagery, lending the music with an aura of playfulness, while remaining true to its core dramaturgy. Performed with spirited dedication by Majamäki, the first seven movements displayed uplifting instrumental storytelling.
Jari Kallio, Adventures in Music 14.8.2023
Performances
2023 April 21st to 23rd – Minä soitan harmonikkaa – More info
2023 August 11th and 12th – Sami Majamäki at the Tampering Festival – More info
2024 November 8th – Lithuanian Premiere by Sini Ström – More info