| Commissioned by | Janne Valkeajoki |
| Opus Number | 46 |
| Category | solo |
| Year | 2016 |
| Duration | 16 |
| Instrument | accordion or piano |
| Availability | Music Finland |
Program note
Shapes Op.46 for solo accordion is a suite in six movements inspired by geometrical shapes. The first movement is a palindrome that goes from the middle register to the extreme registers (both high and low) and back again, therefor the name “The Rhomb”. The first movement consists of twelve-tone rows. The second movement is a slow ascending line beginning from the low register. The third movement is swelling circular movement in both hands. The fourth movement is just as the name says, a “Pentagon Chaconne”, a Chaconne consisting of five chords that are repeated, and every chord consists of five notes, on top of which we have two independent melodies. The fifth movement “Dots” is a fast movement with dots flowing over and rushing everywhere. The last movement “The Icosahedron” is a three-dimensional shape, a polyhedron with twenty faces, or twenty equilateral triangles for being more specific. These twenty faces can be heard throughout the movement, as can the majestic slow turning of the Icosahedron.
The piece is commissioned by and dedicated to Janne Valkeajoki for his solo concert tour in the North of Spain in December 2016. The piece was premiered on the 7th of December 2016 at Tabakalera in San Sebastián by Janne Valkeajoki.
The version for piano is made for Reetamaria Rajala who will premiere it on the 12th of June 2025 at Joensuu Music Festival.
Cecilia Damström: Complete Piano Works (including Shapes) recorded by Reetamaria Rajala – Listen on Spotify
Cecilia Damström: Shapes, world premiere 2016 by Janne Valkeajoki – Listen on Youtube
Cecilia Damström: Shapes, performed by Josipa Vukelić in Pula 2020 – Listen on Youtube
Reviews
The album concludes with its most compelling work: the six-movement Shapes op. 46, originally composed for solo accordion. Structurally inventive and rich in tonal colour, the suite gives musical expression to six geometric forms. The opening movement, The Rhomb, is an ingenious musical palindrome. The Ascending Line suggests climbing broad, luminous steps ever upwards until one reaches a wall. Circles and Ellipses begins with small rings that gradually expand. Pentagon Chaconne consists of five recurring five-part chords over which a light, flowing melody unfolds. Dots ticks forward in rapid staccato figures towards the grand concluding movement, the opulent Icosahedron. In the composer’s own words: “It is a three-dimensional shape with twenty faces, more precisely twenty equilateral triangles. These faces can be heard throughout the movement, as can the majestic, ceremonial turning of the Icosahedron.”
Rajala has immersed herself deeply in these works, internalising them fully and performing with liberated inspiration and assured authority.
Tuulikki Närhisalo, Rondo 16.2.2026
Performances
World premiere 7th December 2016 at 7:30 PM, at Tabakalera, San Sebastian, Spain
Renko Library, 9th of December 2025 – More info