See? It’s not all about Sibelius. (cover image by Luca Bravo) You can find the entire series (in reverse chronological order) here. I’m guessing that for any of you readers who wouldn’t consider yourselves to be diligent students of classical … Continue reading The Finnish Symphony in Review
performed by the Tempera Quartet (cover image by Kristopher Kinsinger) I feel that quartets are in a way the genre in which I am most at home. I use the instruments rather mildly, without any great technical finesse. Nordgren, from … Continue reading Pehr Henrik Nordgren: String Quartet no. 10
performed by the Cikada String Quartet, or as below You were not allowed to have pulse, or tonally oriented harmonies, or melodies. I don’t want to write music through negations. Everything is permissible as long as it’s done in good taste. … Continue reading Kaija Saariaho: Nymphéa
performed by the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic Orchestra under Ari Rasilainen (cover image by Teodor Drobota) Aulis Heikki Sallinen was born on April 9, 1935 in Salmi, in the Republic of Karelia, a federal subject of Russia. His family moved around a number … Continue reading Aulis Sallinen: Symphony no. 1, op. 24
(cover image by Aldric Rivat) Move over, Hovhaness (67ish), Haydn (100+), Bourgeois (114), Dittersdorf (120ish), and even Rowan Taylor (265). You thought Shostakovich’s 15 symphonies, Niels Viggo Bentzon’s 24, Myaskovsky’s 27, Mozart’s 40+, or others held some record for most … Continue reading Quirky Quantity or Questionable Quality?
performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Jussi Jalas (No YouTube, but you can watch a performance here under Hannu Lintu. Click the video for the piece and it should load.) (cover image by Teddy Kelley) When a good … Continue reading Helvi Leiviskä: Symphony no. 3
performed by the Lahti Chamber Ensemble (cover image by Hao Wang) Today’s piece, also without a YouTube video, dates from 1969, just a few years after the first string quartet, in 1965, which ended Meriläinen’s early “Dodecaphonic” period. In that article, … Continue reading Meriläinen: Metamorfora per 7
performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä (no YouTube video here either, but I also strongly suggest getting a recording of this work and of Aho’s first. Maybe start with the first, and see what you think. I love … Continue reading Revisit: Aho Symphony no. 2
performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä (This work is so unfortunately not available for convenient sharing on YouTube, but I strongly suggest, if you like Shostakovich or any good, bleak 20th century symphony, to go purchase this … Continue reading Aho Symphony no. 1
performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Berglund (cover image by Cassie Boca) Kokkonen’s work, even in the early piece we discussed last weekend, seems to have an inherent power that derives from its brevity, a concentration and … Continue reading Kokkonen Symphony no. 3
performed by the Medici String Quartet (Again, we have a piece with no YouTube video. I’ll be perfectly honest: this piece will not be many people’s cup of tea, but if you’re a lover of Webern or Schoenberg or anything … Continue reading Usko Meriläinen: String Quartet no. 1
performed by the Helsinki Philharmonic under Ulf Söderblom (Oh, this one also isn’t on YouTube, but I’m sure you can stream it or preview it or find it somewhere if it interests you.) (cover image by Daniel Posthuma) Paavo Heininen … Continue reading Paavo Heininen: Symphony no. 2, op. 9 ‘Petite symphonie joyeuse’
performed by the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra under Max Pommer (in what I believe is the world premiere recording, maybe) second, third and fourth movements (cover image by Teddy Kelley) Einojuhani Rautavaara has been on the blog before. In fact, … Continue reading Rautavaara Symphony no. 3
performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä (Oh. There’s no video for this, but I’d recommend purchasing this one [from iTunes or Chandos] or wherever you get your music. It’s an interesting work. You can also learn more about the … Continue reading Tauno Marttinen: Symphony no. 1, op. 2
performed by the Sibelius Academy Quartet (So this, I think, is the first time in the series that we don’t have a video available on YouTube, but it certainly won’t be the last. As it turns out, there are about a … Continue reading Joonas Kokkonen: Quintet For Piano And String Quartet, op. 5
performed by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra under Petri Sakari, or below by the Finlandia Orchestra under Tauno Hannikainen (cover image by Andreea Chidu) Aare Merikanto was born on June 29, 1893 in Helsinki, the son of Oskar Merikanto, himself a composer. … Continue reading Aarre Merikanto: Symphony No. 3
performed by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra under Pertti Pekkanen (cover image by Vincent Guth) This is a remarkable symphony, on par with, say, Shostakovich. Sven Einar Englund was born on June 17, 1916 in Ljugarn, Gotland (an island), Sweden, and was … Continue reading Einar Englund: Symphony no. 1, ‘The War Symphony’
performed by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra under Tuomas Ollila-Hannikainen (cover image by Aarón Blanco Tejedor) Uuno Kalervo Klami was born on September 20, 1900 in Virolahti, in the very southeast of Finland. He studied in Helsinki with Melartin, and later … Continue reading Uuno Klami: Symphony no. 1
performed by the Echnaton Trio, or below by Peter Sirotin, Violin; Michael Stepniak, Viola; Fiona Thompson, Cello (cover image by Geoffrey Datema) Today’s work is obviously a much later piece than the first symphony, with an identifiably chromatic vocabulary. Its four … Continue reading Melartin String Trio, op. 133
performed by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra under Paavo Rautio, or below with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra under John Storgards (cover image by Vincent Guth) I received a telegram from Viipuri yesterday that made my blood run cold: “Yjrö fell on … Continue reading Leevi Madetoja: Symphony no. 2 in E-flat, op. 35
performed by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä, or below with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Leif Segerstam Det är synd om människorna (One feels pity for human beings). August Strindberg (cover image by Radek Grzybowski) Well, we saw Sibelius a … Continue reading Sibelius Symphony no. 4 in Am, op. 63
Fugue for Thought 