Water, air, light

The sun is far more than a source of light and heat: it is also a canvas onto which human longings and fears are projected. When it disappears over the horizon in the evening, existential questions arise: Will it return tomorrow? What remains of its warmth during the night? And what would a world without it look like?

Musically, the Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen explores the sound of the midnight sun. Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, for his part, captures the magic of a summer’s night. As a counterpoint to the sun, water takes centre stage – in all its forms: as rain and snow, as a mirror-smooth surface, a rushing wave or a silent drop.

Tan describes the tears that Jean Sibelius brings to life with a telling image: ‘… the purest, coldest spring water, rather than sweet, colourful cocktails’.