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Transcript of Highlights 2 2013
NO
RD
IC2/2013HIGHLIGHTS
N E W S L E T T E R F R O M G E H R M A N S M U S I K F Ö R L A G & F E N N I C A G E H R M A N
Daniel Börtz at 70
H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3
N E W SN
OR
DIC
HIGHLIGHTS 2/2013
NEWSLET TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN
Sound samples , video clips and other material are available at
www.gehrmans.se/highlights
Cover photos: A Dream Play in Weimar (Photo:
Matthias Horn), Daniel Börtz (Photo: Jurek Holzer/SVD/
Scanpix), Ben Affl eck and Rachel McAdams in Malick’s
fi lm To the Wonder (Photo: Filmikamari)
Editors: Henna Salmela and Kristina Fryklöf
Translations: Susan Sinisalo and Robert Carroll
Design: Tenhelp Oy/Tenho Järvinen
ISSN 2000-2742 (Print), ISSN 2000-2750 (Online)
Printed in Sweden by TMG Sthlm, Bromma 2013
Trio La Rue to play music
by NieminenWorks by Kai Nieminen can be heard at several
concerts this year, in addition to being recorded
on the Toccata Classics and Pilfi nk labels. Niemi-
nen is also the focus composer of the Sääksmäki
soi festival, at which Patrick Kleemola will give
the Finnish premiere of his guitar sonata A Walk
to the Mysterious Woods... and the Trio La Rue
will perform works by him on 3 July. Also in the
Trio’s repertoire is Nieminen’s Refl ecting Land-
scapes, to be heard at two of its concerts in
Italy – in Rome and Naples in October 2013.
New agreement with
Mihkel KeremFennica Gehrman has signed a publishing
agreement with Mihkel Kerem for 7 or-
chestral and 9 instrumental/chamber works.
Kerem (born in 1981 in Tallinn) studied the
violin and composition at the Royal College
of Music. He lives in London and is active as
a violinist, composer and arranger.
Mihkel Kerem has composed more than
100 works, including three symphonies, a
double cello concerto, nine string quartets,
three violin sonatas and two wind quintets.
He has had several concerts dedicated to his
music and has been the focus composer at
the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival and
the Aurora Chamber Music Festival. Kerem
is also the leader of the Brandenburg Sinfo-
nia and the section principal of the Camer-
ata Nordica. He also performs as a recitalist
and soloist. Toccata Classics has released two
CDs of Kerem’s compositions.
Cantus arcticus in new
Terrence Malick fi lmEinojuhani Rautavaara’s Cantus arcticus
features at a major turn in the plot
in the new Terrence Malick fi lm To the
Wonder. Th e third movement, Swans Mi-
grating, is played by the Royal Scottish
National Orchestra. Th e score of Mal-
ick’s fi lm is a veritable anthology of clas-
sical and modern music, making the fi lm
a breath-taking, rapturous musical and
visual experience.
Large choral commission
for HakolaTh e Chorus Sanctae Ceciliae (Ceciliakören) has
commissioned Kimmo Hakola to write a large-
scale choral work to celebrate its 60th anniversa-
ry in November 2013. One of the basic missions
of the choir founded by Harald Andersén has,
from the very beginning, been to commission
and perform new works. De kaspiska tigrarnas
Gud, the work commissioned from Hakola, is
based on texts by Stella Parland. About an hour
long, it will be premiered at the Helsinki Music
Centre on 22 November.
Nordic Music Days 2013Music by four of Gehrmans’ composers will be
performed during the Nordic Music Days in
Helsinki this October: Benjamin Staern’s sym-
phonic prelude Jubilate, Mirjam Tally’s Birds and
Shadows for violin and string orchestra, Jörgen
Dafgård’s Mahler Revisited for fl ute, violin, cel-
lo and piano, and Anders Eliasson’s Trio for
Marimba, Violin and Piano. Choral works by
Veli-Matti Puumala (Halkeama) and Olli Kor-
tekangas (De profundis) represent the Fennica
Gehrman catalogue in the NMD program.
Anders Eliasson (1947–2013)When Anders Eliasson died on 20 May, one
of the most personal voices in Swedish music
fell silent. He will be dearly missed.
Eliasson lived through his music and al-
ways went his own way, irrespective of trends
and traditions. He wrote more than 100
works: symphonies, oratorios, solo concertos
and chamber music, but emphasised that he
did not `compose´. He spoke of an “angel of
music” and saw himself as a receiver, as one
who sensitively listened in, wrote down and
conveyed. Yet one palpably feels Eliasson’s
strong presence in his music: the restless-
ness, the melancholy, the pain, the harshness,
the beauty and the warmth. An expressive-
ness that touches the depths of the souls.
Phot
o: S
aara
Vuo
rjoki
Ben
Affl e
ck a
nd R
ache
l McA
dam
s (Ph
oto:
Film
ikam
ari)
Phot
o: P
ål S
olba
kk
H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3
P R E M I E R E SNew commissions
Th e Trio ZPR has commissioned music from Tommie Haglund and Anders Eliasson for
the concert series “Finally Monday 2013-2014”. Eliasson’s string trio Ahnungen became his
very last work. It will be premiered in Stockholm on 10 February 2014.
Fredrik Högberg has been commissioned to write a Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra
for virtuoso Jörgen Sundeqvist and the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, to be premiered in
2014. Th e NCO has also commissioned a 10-minute concert-opener by Marie Samuelsson
for the 2015/16 season.
Orchestral version of Kari Tikka songsKari Tikka has made orchestral arrangements of his popular Five
Biblical Songs cycle. It also includes the work by him most often per-
formed: Song of Grace (Armolaulu). Th e Lohja City Orchestra pre-
miered three songs from the cycle last summer with Jyrki Anttila,
Hannu Jurmu and Aki Alamikkotervo as the soloists. Tikka is also
planning an orchestral version of his Seven Spiritual Songs.
Lindberg turns 80On 11 June composer and pianist Nils Lindberg
will celebrate his 80th birthday. During six dec-
ades he has composed and arranged music for big
bands, choirs, symphony orchestras and various
types of ensembles. He has refused to be cate-
gorised and has remained a border-transcending
personality in Swedish musical life. His musical
roots are to be found in Swedish folk music as
well as in jazz and art music, a golden trinity that
has become Lindberg’s successful hallmark. His
latest work is a commission for the Swedish Ra-
dio Choir, Om dagen vid mitt arbete, which was
premiered under the direction of Peter Dijkstra
on 18 May in Stockholm. Also read about Lind-
berg’s Requiem under repertoire tips.
Festival composers this summerTh e Lyckå Chamber Music Festival will present a portrait concert of
works by Rolf Martinsson on 4 July. Th e programme comprises the
world premiere of Till skuggan av en verklighet (To the Shadow of a Reali-
ty), for soprano and string quartet to texts by Karin Boye, Songs on Poems
by Emily Dickinson in a version for soprano and piano, Landscape for vio-
lin solo, Duo for violin and cello, and three piano pieces from Th e Zodiac.
Albert Schnelzer is Composer-in-Focus at the Östergötland Music
Days/Linköping Chamber Music Festival on 10–17 August. No less
than 12 of his works will be performed, among these the festival commis-
sion You Cried for the Moon for clarinet and piano, Requiem for soprano
and piano, Emperor Akbar for string orchestra and Azraeel Suite for sym-
phonic wind band.
Summer 2013
Rolf MartinssonTour de Force
Gothenburg SO/Nikolaj Znaider
15.5. Gothenburg, Sweden
Till skuggan av en verklighet
Lisa Larsson, soprano, Kreutzer Quartet
4.7. Karlskrona, Sweden (Lyckå Chamber Music Festival)
Nils LindbergOm dagen vid mitt arbete
Swedish Radio Choir/Peter Dijkstra
18.5. Stockholm, Sweden
Sven-David SandströmThree Pieces for Two Violins
Anders Lagerqvist, Per Öman
8.6. Borlänge, Sweden
Five Pieces for String Quintet
Uppsala Chamber Soloists
8.9. Uppsala, Sweden
Jyrki Linjama Suomalainen Stabat Mater (Finnish Stabat Mater)
Soli Deo Gloria/Juhani Lamminmäki, sol. Piia Komsi, soprano,
Ulla Raiskio, alto, Ritva Koistinen, kantele
29.6. Kokkola, Finland
Das Licht der fl ießenden Gottheit (Jumaluuden virtaava valo)
Essi Luttinen, mezzo-soprano, Ilmo Ranta, piano
9.7. Kemiö, Finland (Kemiö Music Festival)
Kai NieminenRitorno... ( delle città invisibili)
Jyväskylä University SO/Huba Holloköi
24.8 Jyväskylä, Finland
Kalevi AhoEAREGBERG for 4 cellos, ERA for 4 cellos
Martti Rousi etc.
5.7. Sysmä, Finland (Sysmä Summer Sounds)
Albert SchnelzerYou Cried for the Moon
Staff an Mårtensson, clarinet, Love Derwinger, piano
14.8. Linköping, Sweden (Östergötland Music Days)
Daniel BörtzSpeglande Medea (Refl ecting Medea)
Michala Petri, recorder
30.8. Suså, Denmark (Suså Festival)
Rolf Martinsson
Phot
o: M
ats B
äcke
r
Albert Schnelzer
Phot
o: H
ans L
indé
n
Martinsson residency in
AmsterdamRolf Martinsson will be Composer-in-Residence
with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra/
Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Concert-
gebouw in Amsterdam during the 2014/2015
season. His residency will feature a sequence of
Dutch premieres ranging from orchestral works
to chamber pieces, such as the concert opener
Open Mind and A. S. in Memoriam for strings.
Th e Netherlands PO also co-commissioned
New Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, featuring
Lisa Larsson.
Trio
ZPR
(Pho
to: G
oldb
erg)
Pasi Lyytikäinen1.Th e Kuopio Symphony Orchestra commis-
sioned a symphony from you and premiered it
in 2008. Could you describe the composition
process – before that, you had mostly written
chamber music and works for the stage.
Th e idea of composing a symphony came to me
very early on. I did the fi rst sketches for it when
I was about twenty. But when I began compos-
ing it again ten years later, I did not return to
these sketches and instead planned the musical
material on a diff erent footing. Th e main reason
was that while I was composing chamber music,
I had acquired masses of ideas for an orchestra.
Th en again, I had concentrated a lot on vocal
music, so there was strong pressure to compose
an orchestral work.
2. You have composed chamber music for very
diff erent line-ups, and also solo works. Can
you tell us more about these?
Par for piano four hands won the Tong Piano
Duet chamber music competition in London
and it was premiered in Tokyo in autumn 2002.
I wrote it as a sort of triumphant shout and
aimed at boisterous, light and action-packed
expression. Coma for solo piano, premiered in
Berlin, combines methodical German harmony
thinking with the impressionistic ethereality of
French expression.
I’ve also had the fortune to receive a wide
range of chamber music commissions. Th e most
important of these are, for me, the trio Zephyr
and the string quartet La Spada del sole. And
there is also the solo accordion suite Vuo.
3. Th ough your own instrument is the fl ute,
you haven’t written all that much fl ute music,
even though your list of works does include
some for winds; such as Necto, premiered by
the Guards Band in 2010. Is there any special
reason for this?
Th is may sound odd, but I hardly write any-
thing for the fl ute precisely because it’s my own
instrument. I do, it’s true, dream of doing a fl ute
concerto sometime, but that project can wait for
another few years. But I have written a big suite
for solo recorder, Minimalto.
4. Th e chamber opera To Helsinki is consid-
ered your breakthrough work. Tell us a bit
about it.
It marked the culmination of the musical think-
ing of my youthful years. In 1997, after I had
moved to Helsinki to study composition, I hap-
pened to come across Juhani Aho’s novella To
Helsinki. Th e book is about a young student and
the fi rst time he travels far from home. It’s os-
tensibly a genial story about a journey, but under
the surface is a powerful tale about how a person
changes, and under the infl uence of the people
around him.
5. And what about the Seven Songs for soprano
and orchestra, settings of poems by Saila Susi-
luoto, which you composed after completing
the opera?
Th e Seven Songs were, apart from the solo accor-
dion suite Vuo, the fi rst work in which I started
to seek out musical avenues I hadn’t already ex-
plored. Whereas the expression in my chamber
opera relies on spiky tragicomedy, the orchestral
songs are clearly lyrical and serious. I’m still real-
ly pleased with the orchestra of the Seven Songs.
Th rough it I found a lot of new expression, both
vocal and orchestral. I later did a version of the
cycle for soprano and piano at singers’ request.
6. Last November you were a guest composer
at the Moscow Autumn festival. Th is spring
you’ve been a tutor on the Very Young Com-
posers project.
Some of my chamber music was played at the
Moscow Autumn festival, and my new Chamber
H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3
questions forVocalise for soprano and chamber ensemble was
also premiered there. Music by me was also per-
formed by the GamEnsemble on its Russian tour.
I went along, too, lecturing about my music at the
Glinka Conservatory. Th e festival also brought
me lots more performances both for Russia and
elsewhere in Europe. Th e virtuoso accordionist
Sergej Tchirkov, for example, has performed Vuo
this spring in Venice, Poland and elsewhere.
Working as a tutor on the Very Young Com-
posers project with composer Minna Leino nen
was a pleasure and broadened my mind. Th e
concept of the project developed by Jon Deak is
quite unique. In it, youngsters composed while
vocational music students converted their ideas
into musical notation – as authentically as possi-
ble. Th e new works were premiered by a chamber
ensemble of players from the Finnish Radio Sym-
phony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic and
the Finnish National Opera. Added to which, the
youngsters did animations and sculptures.
7. What are you working on right now and
what sorts of inspiring works do you expect to
do in the future?
I’ve just fi nished a new work in the Everyday
Opera series. Over the summer I’m going to
compose a virtuoso accordion work for Mika
Väyrynen. Sometime in the near future I also
intend to complete my doctoral studies at the
Sibelius Academy. I’ve got a fi ne opportunity to
take part in this doctoral programme in which
eight artists from diff erent fi elds will be working
on their degrees and at the same time developing
methods for artistic research.
My aim is to amass as wide a range of re-
sources as possible for my career as a composer.
Working with diff erent arts has been fantastic,
especially as regards my works for the stage. It’s
been interesting to note that the majority of the
questions about making art are the same regard-
less of genre.
Henna Salmela
Pasi Lyytikäinen (b. 1975) studied compo-
sition at the Sibelius Academy and in mas-
terclasses with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Tristan
Murail, Kaija Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg
and others. His interests as a composer are
wide-spread: solo, chamber, orchestral and vocal
music, and opera. As a composer he has been
described as a lyrical modernist. His music is
characterised by compact, often softly dissonant
harmony, the idea of varying motifs and a clas-
sical, polyphonic mode of writing. Some of his
most recent works also have theatrical elements.
Phot
o: Jo
hann
a Ok
sane
n-Ly
ytik
äine
n
H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3
We meet at a café in Stockholm, just a stone’s
throw from the Royal Opera. It was here that he
in 1991 had his famous breakthrough with Back-
anterna (Th e Bacchae) in a production by Ing-
mar Bergman, and this is where he will return
with a new opera. After the complex of problems
relating to honour killing in Svall (Surge, 2006)
and the conditions of the artist in Goya (2009),
it is now time for another drama from classical
antiquity: Euripides’ Medea.
Producer, conductor, singers and the premiere
date are still hush-hush – the production lies
a couple of seasons ahead – but the fi rst act of
the opera is fi nished. He had been toying with
the subject for quite a while, but it was not until
Daniel Börtz had read the play in a more recent
Swedish translation that he found inspiration.
– Medea had been in the back of my mind
for years, ever since Th e Bacchae. It was the
kind of drama that I really wanted to take on at
some point in time. And then when I reread it
– and above all came to read the newly revised
translation by Jan Stolpe and Agneta Pleijel –
everything fell into place.
He has undertaken to do the libretto this time
and made quite a few cuts and rearrangements
in the text – with the consent of Jan Stolpe and
Agneta Pleijel, of course. About once every six
months he meets with them both to get the go-
ahead for his adaptation:
– Th en we read and I draw and tell and talk
about what I am thinking. I have made quite a
lot of changes above all to what happens in the
chorus, but so far they haven’t berated me, Dan-
iel Börtz points out. He adds that he has a great
time relating to this sounding board and not be-
ing entirely alone.
What captivated him the most from the be-
ginning, and what has become the fundamental
theme, was Medea’s situation as a fugitive. How a
human being can end up in such a desperate sit-
uation that she totally loses her foothold. About
the same time that he started on the work, a
tragic event occurred in a nearby town: a woman
drowned her two children. Daniel Börtz doubts
whether one can draw any sweeping or direct par-
allels, but nevertheless fi nds certain similarities:
– You can’t really make any comparisons, this
is of course a play that was written four-hun-
dred years before Christ, but humans have not
changed essentially throughout that time. What
it deals with is basically this: humans can be
stressed to a point where they lose all good judg-
ment, says Daniel Börtz.
He describes the music as a stylistic continu-
ation of how he composed Goya, a great deal of
interplay between tonality and atonality, and all
the nuances in between. In the role of the wet
nurse one can also fi nd certain similarities to
Cassandra in the oratorio His Name Was Orest-
es. In Euripides the nurse’s role is restricted to
the beginning of the play, but Börtz has expand-
ed her part. Like Cassandra’s, it is written for a
warm contralto.
– I individualise the chorus; I have them as
a female mass, but I individualise often so that
they become soloist roles. And the nurse, she is
in some way a participant in this, she becomes
that Cassandra type – the one who suff ers, who
feels compassion.
As usual – one is tempted to say – when Daniel
Börtz is working on an opera there is likely to be a
musical spillover. In connection with Th e Bacchae
came Kithairon for oboe, Goya’s Face was a digres-
sion from Goya, and at the Danish Suså Festival
this August there will be a premiere performance
of Refl ecting Medea, fi ve short solo pieces written
for the recorder virtuoso Michala Petri.
– It is a kind of characterisation of Medea, you
might say, but there is also a concrete sequence of
intervals that is important in the opera.
But for the whole opera Medea we will have
to wait a while longer. Daniel Börtz’s twelfth sym-
phony, however, can be heard at a much earlier
date: it will be premiered by the Swedish Ra-
dio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dan-
iel Blendulf on 15 February 2014. Th e score is
ready and lies in the windowsill beside our table.
We page through it and discuss motoric drive, a
suddenly emerging dream sequence, gongs and
glockenspiel sonorities, and an ending in a C
major that bursts into pieces. But when we talk
about how the work starts out, it is once again
a concrete little musical element that proves to
be central.
– It has one of those building stones, an irri-
tating detail that calls for me to “do something
with this”, and it is the very fi rst chords B minor
and G minor. When you start toying with those
two chords you discover a great many possibil-
ities that open up. I can’t stop doing this, that’s
just the way it is, says Börtz.
It is now forty years since his fi rst sympho-
ny was given its premiere in Gothenburg – the
compact building blocks of the 1970s have long
since been replaced by a form that is leaner –
and No. 12 is the fi rst symphony for full sym-
phony orchestra in twenty years, consisting of
four movements and with a duration of approx-
imately forty minutes. Th ere is even room for a
baritone soloist in the slow movement, in which
Börtz has set a poem by Kjell Espmark. And al-
though the orchestra is large, the symphony has
an aura of chamber music about it.
– Indeed, I like to have a palette with a wealth
of colours, to be able to play around and work
with it. Th en at times there won’t be so many
tones in certain instruments, but where they do
come in, they are immensely important. Some-
times it is very useful to force oneself not to have
so many possibilities, simply to be able to sharp-
en one’s pencil and one’s wits, says Daniel Börtz.
Sara Norling
Daniel Börtz turns 70 in August, but he has hardly slowed his pace. He will
soon be in the limelight with two new large-scale works – his twelfth sympho-
ny and his sixth opera Medea.
Daniel Börtz at 70
Phot
o: Ju
rek
Holz
er/S
VD/S
canp
ix
H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3
ANDERS ELIASSON Dante Anarca (1998) Dur: 80’ soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus
and orchestra: 3344-4331-14-2hp-str
Text: Giacomo Oreglia
(Dante Anarca e i suoi sei maesteri, Ita)
Eliasson keeps up the tension and energy
throughout this seven-movement apocalyptic oratorio. The music
moves between the wildly furious, the intensely expressive and the
tenderly beautiful, and leads to a radiant fi nal movement where Dante
is depicted as the liberator, the sharpest arrow against evil, fraud, do-
minion and mammon. He is “the beating heart of our future”.
KIMMO HAKOLASong of Songs (2006) Dur: 50’solo baritone, vocal ensemble, mixed chorus and
orchestra: 2222-2200-01-hp-pf+cel-str
Text: Bible (Eng)
Song of Songs is a large-scale, radiant orato-
rio incorporating the whole of the Old Testa-
ment Song of Songs in English. Harmony, beauty and lyricism are basic
ingredients of Hakola’s music. The very text is, he says, itself like music,
and packed with symbolism. It is also an erotic song of praise to love.
OLLI KORTEKANGASSeven Songs for Planet Earth (2011)
Dur: 40’mezzo-soprano and baritone, mixed chorus,
children’s chorus and orchestra:
2222-2221-12-hp-str
Text: Wendell Berry, St Francis of Assisi etc. (Eng)
This is a sweeping, ecological work, a refl ection on nature and its fra-
gility. The heart of it is the poetry of Wendell Berry, a US poet, farmer
and academic. One of the major repeated motifs is the beautiful idea
of expanding circles. Included are also some primitive elements such
as yoiking, a tradition of the Sámi people in Finland.
TIMOJUHANI KYLLÖNENMissa Festiva (2008) Dur: 31’ soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, organ and
chamber orchestra: 0000-0000-12-str
Text: Mass (Lat)
Kyllönen’s Mass is, despite its modernism,
highly melodic, and precisely because of
its beauty and melody easily accessible to the public at large. The or-
gan’s role is to be part of the orchestra, as if to replace the missing
wind instruments. The Mass has a clear dramatic charge from the very
beginning. It also has zest, a dance-like quality and echoes of Lat-
in-American rhythms.
LARSERIK LARSSON Förklädd gud/A God Disguised
(1940) Dur: 30’reciter, soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and
orchestra, original version: 2222-2210-10-hp-
str, reduced version: 1111-2100-10-pf-str, sym-
phonic wind band: 1141-2331-12-double bass
Text: Hjalmar Gullberg (Sw/Eng/Ger)
A lyrical suite in which recitation alternates with musical episodes.
The text is based on the Greek myth about Apollo, who visits the earth
disguised as a shepherd playing the fl ute. The basic mood of the work
is bright, optimistic and almost pastoral, and the romantic tone lan-
guage is simple and straightforward. A God Disguised has become a
staple of Swedish choral repertoire.
Homage to vocal beautyOne is impressed by the marvellous overtones that
Sandström can elicit from the choir…Choir, per-
cussion, organ, soloists and brass together form a
glimmering majesty around the text of the Catho-
lic Requiem…In the penultimate movement, “Lux
aeterna”, Rombo and Dragojevic sing a duet so
lovely that one’s thoughts inevitably go to the clas-
sic gem “Flower Duet” from Delibes’ opera “Lakmé”.
Expressen 24.3.
Sven-David Sandström: Requiem
World premiere: Swedish RSO & Swedish Radio Choir/Gustaf Sjökvist,
sol. Elin Rombo, Katija Dragojevic, Olle Persson, Matthew Rose,
23.3.2013 Stockholm, Sweden
Pungent for saxophoneTuomela’s idiom is at times pungent, at times even
very lyrically beautiful. Saxophone virtuoso Joona-
tan Rautoila was able to demonstrate his skills in a
variety of ways in dialogue with the orchestra’s dif-
ferent instruments. Karjalainen 13.4.
Tapio Tuomela: Swap, Concerto for Saxophone
and Sinfonietta
World premiere: Joensuu CO/Sasha Mäkilä, sol. Joonatan Rautoila
13.4.2013 Joensuu, Finland
NILS LINDBERG Requiem (1993) Dur: 45’2 sopranos, baritone, mixed chorus and enlarged
big band: 2000-2440-12-5sax-pf-double bass
Text: Requiem (Lat)
Lindberg combines jazz with Swedish folk
music and Gregorian harmonies to create a
dark, brooding and gripping Requiem. Expressive vocal parts, including
characteristic ancient folk song ornaments, and choral movements in
“Gregorian Dalecarlian style” are framed by the mighty and periodically
hard swinging big band.
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARAOn the Last Frontier (1998) Dur: 24’mixed chorus and orchestra:
3233-4331-12-hp-str
Text: Rautavaara after Edgar Allan Poe (Eng)
Rautavaara’s fantasy opens with a sumptu-
ous, mysterious orchestral section. Beauti-
ful, shining fl ute and oboe solos against a choral background alternate
with a sea of orchestral sound in stormy majesty. The poem by Edgar
Allan Poe made an indelible impression on Rautavaara while he was
still a lad, and through the text the choir transports the listener on a
mysterious voyage towards the limits of the unknown.
HILDING ROSENBERG The Revelation of St. John –
Symphony No. 4 (1940) Dur: 75’baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra:
2222-4431-22-hp-pf-cel-str
Text: Bible/Chorales to texts by Hjalmar Gullberg
(Sw/Eng)
This is a fl aming protest against violence and war. It is also music with
long lines and sharp contrasts between dynamic, forceful oratorio
blocks, ethereal a cappella choruses, and expressionistically sugges-
tive recitatives for baritone and brass. The development goes from
horror towards light and hope of “a new heaven and a new earth”.
SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖM Magnifi cat (2005) Dur: 20’SATB soli, mixed chorus and chamber orchestra:
2fl -3trpt-timp-org/hpd-str
Text: Magnifi cat (Lat)
Sandström’s jubilant Magnifi cat corresponds
to Bach’s original in many ways in respect
to the outer form and instrumentation. The work opens in genuine
baroque manner with timpani and trumpets and a rhythmical and
joyful choral texture. The tone language is diatonic or triadic almost
throughout. But also infl uences from early church music, Gregorian
chant and imitative counterpoint can be found.
JEAN SIBELIUSOma Maa (My Own Land)
(1918) Dur: 11’mixed choir and orchestra: 2222-4230-11-str
Text: Kallio (Fin/Swe)
Maan virsi (Hymn to the Earth)
(1920) Dur: 10’mixed choir and orchestra: 2222-4230-11-str
Text: Eino Leino (Fin/Swe/Eng/Ger)
These cantata gems have been overshadowed by the maestro’s other
works. Despite their patriotic tone they serve as exciting portals to his
symphonic world. Oma maa is a sort of hymn to the nightless northern
night and towards the end achieves almost sacral rapture – a piece that
has been hailed by several Sibelius scholars. Maan virsi is a deep-hued,
lyrical song in praise of nature, with charming orchestral sections.
REPER TOIRE T IPS Choral works with orchestra R E V I E W S
Katija Dragojevic and Elin Rombo
Phot
o: A
rne
Hyck
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rg
Joonatan Rautoila
Phot
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eikk
i Tuu
li
H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3
Inspiring Dream Play in WeimarLidholm’s sensual, undogmatic and continually
surprising musical language creates a kaleido-
scope of impressions of human life…The big a
cappella choral movements are spectacular…
Gesellschaft Freunde der Künste 30.4.
The dialectic is captured brilliantly in Ingvar Lid-
holm´s music…He plays with stylistic devices
such as plainchant, waltzes and polkas, which
he mixes together in his exquisite modern tone
language.
Thüringische Landeszeitung 22.4.
The big choir both acts and sings splendidly…In
Lidholm’s music the world may collapse, some-
times with a scornful laugh, sometimes with
sensitivity and sorrow, but it can also occur with
lightning and thunder. And Staatskapelle Wei-
mar, with conductor Stefan Solyom, performs
with all the colours and nuances.
Die Deutsche Bühne 21.4.
Director Christian Sedelmayer has got magic
hands when it comes to staging the tragic. An-
other brilliant success… Thüringer Allgemeine 22.4.
Ingvar Lidholm: A Dream Play
Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar/Stefan
Solyom, 20.4.2013 Weimar, Germany
Phot
o: M
atth
ias H
orn
New Hakola operaHynninen brims with vigour and passion in Kim-
mo Hakola’s monologue opera Akseli…Hakola
continues his recent melodic line in this opera.
The music has its origins in National Romanticism
but Hakola is also skilled at modern distancing.
The melodic ecstasy is often dreamily melan-
choly… Helsingin Sanomat 2.3.
Kaleidoscope – a metaphor that aptly applies to
the constantly changing characters in Hakola’s
music. At best, it provided beautiful vocal melo-
dies gratifying for the soloist and mighty, throb-
bing instrumental writing… Hufvudstadbladet 5.3.
Kimmo Hakola: Akseli, monologue opera
World premiere: Avanti!/Ville Matvejeff , sol. Jorma Hynninen,
28.2.2013 Helsinki, Finland
Dafgård – Composer of Spring This evening’s opening piece Volo for string orchestra
was characterised by rhythmical fi gures in a lively
dance, excellently captured in fl ight over both strings
and life’s rushing treadmill. Dagens Nyheter 17.2.
Jörgen Dafgård: Volo
Swedish Radio SO/Jukka-Pekka Saraste, 15.2.2013 Stockholm, Sweden
Nature’s mystique presents itself immediately in
Dafgård’s music. But also the pumping rhythms. The
clarinet concerto opens with a heavily loaded artillery
salvo from the brass… then the piece glides into a fog
of strings and a dreamlike state that is lifted by the
third movement’s triplet fi gures and tempo chang-
es… Dagens Nyheter 6.5.
Jörgen Dafgård: Clarinet Concerto
World premiere: Swedish Radio SO/Christian Eggen, 4.5.2013 Stock-
holm, Sweden
Poesis in San FranciscoPoesis emerged as a vibrant and often gripping dis-
play of orchestral virtuosity...The piece off ers both
vigor and surprise, and the orchestra delivered it
beautifully. San Francisco Chronicle 13.4.
Ingvar Lidholm: Poesis
US premiere: San Francisco SO/Herbert Blomstedt,
11.4.2013 San Francisco, USA
Intimate expression The premiere aff orded something quite special and
distinctive. Tear is characterised by intimate expres-
sion that speaks to the listener. The bittersweet mood
culminates in a sound all of its own at around the mid-
dle: modal jazz mixed with sighing and scratching.
Hufvudstadsbladet 4.3.
Veli-Matti Puumala: Tear
World premiere: Tapiola Sinfonietta/Hannu Lintu, 1.3.2013 Espoo,
Finland
Aho’s enchanting GejiaThe super-evocative percussion parts indicated at
the very outset that something very special was hap-
pening. Aho had sought his melodic building blocks
among the traditions of the Gejia, a minority people
in Southern China, and used them in a most sophis-
ticated way so that the whole almost, but not quite
gave an “authentic” impression. Hufvudstadsbladet 14.4.
Kalevi Aho: Gejia
Finnish premiere: Lahti SO/Dima Slobodeniouk, 11.4.2013 Lahti, Finland
Attractive oboe-CDOf the many concertos that Aho has written, the
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra is one of the most
attractive and innovative…The oboe concerto in par-
ticular is a lovely piece which grows in stature with
each hearing. theclassicalreviewer.blogspot.co.uk
Kalevi Aho: Works for the Oboe
(Oboe Concerto, Solo IX, Sonata for Oboe and Piano)
CD: Lahti SO/Martyn Brabbins, sol. Piet Van Bockstal, Yutaka Oya, piano
(BIS-SCD 1876)
Stefan Solyom in Gothenburg (from video clip)
Veli-Matti Veli-Matti PuumalaPuumala
Magnifi cent Heiniö sound in spaceThe blaring French horns and rumbling trombones
were placed on the platform, likewise the celesta, the
jazzy trumpets above them…The eff ect of this sound
in space was magnifi cent. Helsingin Sanomat 26.4.
Mikko Heiniö: Sonata da chiesa
Finnish RSO/Arvo Volmer, 24.4.2013 Helsinki, Finland
Powerful Vanitas premiereLinjama’s Vanitas for choir is a powerful sermon…
Debussy inspired the diaphanous nature scenes and
heavenly visions. Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem
hovers in the background. Linjama handles his big
mixed choir with assurance and variety.
Helsingin Sanomat 26.4.
Jyrki Linjama: Vanitas
World premiere: Finnish RSO & Dominante, Murtosointu choirs/Arvo
Volmer, 24.4. 2013 Helsinki, Finland
Freak out! The instrumentation underlined and elucidated the
content of the music, often with a sense of humour.
In addition, there was an easily accessible rhythmic
structure that held out its hand to the listener.
Göteborgsposten 23.2.
Syncopations come reeling like skeletons in a
steady wind; absurd whirlwinds spring up from
bands of fog; frightening rumblings turn unexpect-
edly into the purest major…Indeed, who doesn’t
want to freak out in Burbank? Gävle Dagblad 29.4.
Albert Schnelzer: A Freak in Burbank
Gothenburg SO/Stefan Solyom, 21.2.2013 Gothenburg, Sweden
Gävle SO/Jaime Martin, 26.4.2013 Gävle, Sweden
Phot
o: S
aara
Vuo
rjoki
Jorma Hynninen
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rica
Othm
an
N E W P U B L I C AT I O N S
DANIEL BÖRTZTräsnitt/Woodcut
for solo percussionGE 10599
JÖRGEN DAFGÅRDMahler Revisited
for fl ute, violin, cello and pianoGE 12322 (score and parts)
NILS LINDBERGVaggvisa/Lullaby
for violin and pianoGE 12244
Polska with All My Love
for violin and pianoGE 12245
HANNU POHJANNOROtowards the orbit of the moon /
kuun kiertoa kohti
for guitarFG 55011-138-7
SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖMDance I
for percussion quintetGE 12266
The Last Fight
for percussion soloGE 12267
Four Pieces for String TrioGE 12192 (score and parts)
ALBERT SCHNELZERCon Forza
for brass quintetGE 12319 (score and parts)
ULRIKA EMANUELSSON Väktarsång från Lund (Nightwatcher’s Song)
for female choir a cappella
Text: Traditional nightwatcher’s calls (Swe)GE 12239
SVEN HAGVIL Orpheus with his Lute
for mixed choir a cappella
Text: William Shakespeare (Eng)GE 12248
BO HANSSON Then I Heard the Singing
for mixed choir a cappella
Text: St. Bridget of Sweden (Eng)GE 12124
HANNU POHJANNOROValkoinen huone, Three Songs to
Texts by Johanna Venho
for voice and pianoFG 55011-144-8 (high version),
55011-145-5 (low version)
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARAAve Maria, gratia plena
for mixed choir a cappella
Text: Latin
First edition of Rautavaara’s popular
male choir work in a version for SATB choir.FG 55011-147-9
KARIN REHNQVIST Teile dich Nacht
for mixed choir a cappella
Text: Nelly Sachs (Ger)GE 11834
JAN SANDSTRÖM Vuojnha biegga (Wind of the Spirit)
for male choir a cappella
Text: Johan Märak (Samic) GE 10277
N E W C D s
ORCHESTRAL
PAAVO HEININENAutrefois - Concerto for Flute and OrchestraFG 55011-131-8 (piano reduction)
FREDRIK HÖGBERGSilent Purpose
Concerto for clarinet, string orchestra and audio trackGE 11204 (score), GE 11205 (solo part)
ALLAN PETTERSSONConcerto for String Orchestra No. 2GE 11981 (score)
SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖMA Desolate Wind - A Flighty Moment
Concerto for clarinet and orchestraGE 10929 (score), GE 10930 (solo part)
Five Fantasy Pieces
for chamber ensembleGE 12118 (score)
LILLEBROR SÖDERLUNDHTre folkliga valser/Three Popular WaltzesNMS 4962 (score)
MIRJAM TALLYDensity
for symphony orchestraGE 12234 (score)
JONAS VALFRIDSSONThe Only Thing that You Keep
Changing is Your NameGE 12260 (score)
ANDERS ELIASSONEin schneller Blick…ein kurzes Aufscheinen,
Poem for Alto Saxophone and Piano,
Symphony No. 3 for Alto Saxophone
and Orchestra ‘Sinfonia Concertante’
Arcos Orchestra/John-Edward Kelly,
Finnish Radio SO/Leif Segerstam,
John-Edward Kelly, alto saxophone, Bob Versteegh, pianoNEOS 11301
KIMMO HAKOLAGuitar Concerto
Oulu SO/Santtu-Matias Rouvali,
sol. Timo KorhonenOndine ODE 1219-2
PAAVO HEININENAutrefois (Flute Concerto)
Saimaa Sinfonietta/Tibor Bogányi,
sol. Mikael HelasvuoAlba ABCD 350
MIHKEL KEREMSymphony No. 3, Lamento,
Sextet for Strings
Estonian National SO, Tallinn ChO,
Tallinn Ensemble/Mikk MurdveeToccata Classics TOCC0173
AARRE MERIKANTOEkho, Symphony No. 2
Turku PO/Petri Sakari,
sol. Anu Komsi, sopranoAlba ABCD 351
CHORAL & VOCALCHAMBER & INSTRUMENTAL
Gehrmans Musikförlag AB
Box 42026, SE-126 12 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel. +46 8 610 06 00 • Fax +46 8 610 06 27
www.gehrmans.se • [email protected]
Hire: [email protected]
Web shop: www.gehrmans.se
Sales: [email protected]
Fennica Gehrman Oy Ab
PO Box 158, FI-00121 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 10 3871 220 • Fax +358 10 3871 221
www.fennicagehrman.fi • [email protected]
Hire: [email protected]
Web shop: www.fennicagehrman.fi
Sales: [email protected] (dealers)
For further information about our works or representatives worldwide check our web sites or contact us at:
JOHAN BODIN ERIKSSONPandora’s Box
Three pieces for fl exible percussion
ensemble that can be played on
practically any percussion instrument:
drums, oil drums, steel tubes, cans –
shortly, on anything on which you could
beat a rhythm – by almost any number
of players: 4, 8, 12 etc. Each part can thus
advantageously be played by several
percussionists.1. Steel , GE 12301, 2. In Chains, GE 12302,
3. Twine, GE 12303
Jörgen Dafgård
Mahler Revisited
P A R T I T U R / S C O R E
o track
i
Woodcut
for solo percussion
Daniel Börtz
he Spirit)
Teile dich Nacht Mixed choir
Allan Pettersson
CONCERTO No. 2for String Orchestra
(1956)
Score
O
Polska WithAll My Love
for violin and piano
(or instrument in B and piano)
Nils Lindberg
Four Pieces for String Trio
P A R T I T U R / S C O R E
Sven-David Sandström
Vuojnha Biegga
Manskör/Male choir a cappella
Andens vind/Wind of the Spirit
Orpheus with his lute
Blandad kör/Mixed choir a cappella
Tre folkliga valserför stråkorkester
P A R T I T U R / S C O R E
Lille Bror Söderlundh
Jonas Valfridsson
The Only Thing That You
Keep Changing Is Your Name
for orchestra
P A R T I T U R / S C O R E
K
Densityfor symphony orchestra
P A R T I T U R / S C O R E
Mirjam Tally