Hallik, Elis: Altum

for baroque violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord

Written on Kihnu Island, where I am from, this piece is dedicated to Ensemble Floridante. Altum – Latin for “depth, vastness, height, the profound” – holds multiple meanings, each unfolding in its own way. It can be the unreachable, the space beyond sight, or the weight of something unknown. It can mean rising or sinking, expansion or silence, the distance that separates or the vastness that connects. What is deep is not always below; what is high is not always above. Altum is not a fixed place but a movement, a state of being that shifts with perspective. - Elis Hallik