Nordic Highlights 4 2012

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NORDIC

HIGHLIGHTS

4/2012

NEWSLETTER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Mikko Heiniö’s unusual concerto hybrids

Focus on Karin Rehnqvist

NEWS 28 November saw the Russian premiere of Tobias Broström’s Samsara – Concerto for Violin, Marimba and Orchestra at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Hugo Ticciati and Johan Bridger were soloists with the Yakutsk Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Fabio Mastrangelo. Samsara received its US premiere in Chicago in January this year, and was also performed and recorded by the Västerås Sinfonietta/Swedish National Youth SO in October. A video clip from the Västerås performance is now available on Gehrmans’ YouTube site.

Lille Bror Söderlundh

Söderlundh centenary This year we celebrate the centenary of Lille Bror Söderlundh’s birth. He is best known for his ingenious settings of Nils Ferlin’s poems, but he also composed choral songs, chamber and orchestral music. Concerto per violino ed orchestra, Concertino for Oboe and String Orchestra, Christina Music, Three Folk Waltzes for string orchestra and the ballet suite The Emperor of Portugallia are among his most important works. He found the inspiration in Swedish folk music and remained faithful to his ideal throughout his creative career. As he put it, “He who betrays the folk music within, betrays himself; without folk music no one can become a real composer”.

NORDIC

HIGHLIGHTS

4/2012

NEWSLE T TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Sound samples , video clips and other material are available at www.gehrmans.se/highlights Cover photos: Jussi Vierimaa (Mikko Heiniö), Ester Sorri (Karin Rehnqvist), Soren Svendsen (Trio con Brio Copenhagen) 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 2012

HIGHLIGHTS

4/2012

Photo: Kaapo Hakola

Samsara from USA to Russia

John Storgårds, the WDR Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic have commissioned Kimmo Hakola to write a new Violin Concerto to be premiered in Cologne on 18 January 2013. Hakola also has another important premiere in his diary: a monologue opera, Akseli, to be performed by the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra in February. Singing the leading role will be baritone Jorma Hynninen. Alba Records has released a new CD of Hakola’s popular Kivi Songs and settings orchestrated by him of Toivo Kuula’s South Ostrobothnian Folk Songs. The soloist is Hynninen, with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra conducted by Juha Kangas. Photo: Gösta Glase

Hakola makes news

Kimmo Hakola

Margaret Atwood songs Albert Schnelzer will be the first to set Margaret Atwood´s poetry to music. The poems Pig Song, Bull Song, Rat Song, Song of the Hen´s Head and Song of the Worms from “You Are Happy” (1974) will be included in his song cycle for Susanna Andersson and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. The premiere is scheduled for the 2013/2014 season.

Svanholm Singers Composition Award Christian Engquist won First Prize, among 46 contestants from five continents, in the Svanholm Singers international composition competition; with his piece It Is so Peaceful here Now for men’s choir a cappella. The award consisted of 5,000 Euros and the publication of the work by Gehrmans Musikförlag. The Svanholm Singers premiered the winning entry during the Lund Choral Festival in October.

Finnish music in Cadiz Audiences in Spain had a chance to hear some Finnish music in November, at a four-day event at the Gran Teatro Falla in the city of Cadiz. Finnish composer Timo-Juhani Kyllönen is composer-inresidence at this celebrated theatre for the period 2009–2013. The Trumpet Concerto, Op. 84 “Cadiz 2012” was composed by him as a commission and premiered on 6 November. The concerto is, according to Kyllönen, a blend of historical and Spanish moods and fanfares.

Johan Bridger in Västerås

Tenth anniversary of Fennica Gehrman October marked the tenth anniversary of Fennica Gehrman, founded to continue the work on behalf of Finnish classical music formerly done by Edition Fazer and Warner/Chappell Music Finland. Fennica Gehrman purchased their classical catalogues in 2007 and its catalogue now runs to over 12,000 Finnish titles. Read more on the Highlights website. Timo-Juhani Kyllönen

Tuomela’s musical fairytale in Finland The French ensemble Musicatreize is to give the premiere in Finland of Tapio Tuomela’s musical fairytale Antti Puuhaara on 1 December. The performance will take place in the Sonore Hall of the Helsinki Music Centre. The production is an unusual, delightful combination of puppet and shadow theatre. The ensemble of eight singers and six players will be conducted by Roland Hayrabedian. There will also be 4 additional performances in France during December.

Photo: Guy Vivien

PREMIERES November 2012 – February 2013 Sven-David SandstrÜm Four Pieces for String Trio

Trio ZilliacusPerssonRaitinen 5.11. Stockholm, Sweden Three Pieces for Violin and Cello

Ann-Marie Lysell, violin, Astrid Lindell, cello 12.11. Stockholm, Sweden Hüll ut näktergal! (for soprano and 4 percussionists)

Marie Alexis, soprano, percussionists from Swedish Radio SO 27.11. Stockholm, Sweden

Timo-Juhani KyllĂśnen Trumpet Concerto “Cadiz 2012â€?

Camerata del Gran Teatro Falla/JosĂŠ Luis Aranda, sol. Alejandro Gomez Hurtado 6.11. Cadiz, Spain

Einojuhani Rautavaara Three Romances from the opera Rasputin (for mixed choir)

Dominante Chamber Choir/Seppo Murto 7.11. Helsinki, Finland

Kai Nieminen

Kalevi Aho is composing a new chamber opera, called Frida and Diego. Composed as a commission from the Sibelius Academy for its opera students, it has tentatively been scheduled ĂŠ " / " ĂŠ7 / ĂŠ , for the autumn 2014 season at the * ʹÊ ,8ĂŠ­ ,"/ ,-ÂŽÂŽ , 1 ʹÊ "ʹÊ Helsinki Music Centre. It is Aho’s ďŹ fth opera, and is about the life of Frida Kahlo. The libretto, in Spanish, is by Mariza Núùez.

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Poster: Jukka Veistola

Open Mind US premiere

Photo: Mats Bäcker

Rolf Martinsson’s concert opener Open Mind will receive rece its US premiere on Feb 15 February in Carnegie Hall, New York, performed by the Y Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under the direction of Sakar Oramo. Furthermore Sakari Man Manfred Honeck will conduct du the Cleveland Sympphony Orchestra in four performances of Open Mind in Severance Hall on 23-26 May.

Marcovaldo (Concerto for Cello, Accordion and Orchestra)

Staern and Eliasson awarded Benjamin Staern has been awarded the most prestigious Swedish composition prize, the Christ Johnson Prize, for his clarinet concerto Worried Souls. According to the jury “with astonishing talent he handles Benjamin Staern large-scale musical forms in an original and personal way, in a work characterized by a richly varied orchestration and dazzling virtuosity in the solo part.� Anders Eliasson received the Swedish Music Publishers’ Award 2012 for his Violin Concerto Einsame Fahrt (Solitary Journey) in the category Classical Music Work of the Year – Orchestra/ Opera. According to violinist Ulf Wallin Eliasson’s music is timeless. It is as moving and stirring as it is uncompromising and ascetic, not one tone could be taken away from or added to it. Anders Eliasson

Pori Sinfonietta/Jukka Iisakkila, sol. Marko YlĂśnen (cello), Matti Rantanen (accordion) 15.11. Pori, Finland

Joonas Kokkonen Requiem, version for organ, mixed choir and soloists (arr. Jouko Linjama)

Jan Lehtola, organ, Klemetti Institute Chamber Choir/Heikki Liimola, sol. Terttu Iso-Oja, soprano, Joose VähäsÜyrinki, baritone 17.11. Organo Novo Festival, Helsinki, Finland

Fredrik HĂśgberg Ice Concerto

NorrlandsOpera SO/Rumon Gamba, sol. Niklas SivelĂśv, piano 22.11. UmeĂĽ, Sweden

Jyrki Linjama Erstes Werk / Esikoisteos

Annami Hylkilä, soprano, Ilmo Ranta, piano 25.11. Kuopio, Finland

Rolf Martinsson Opening Sounds

WĂźrttembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen/Ola Rudner 14.1. Reutlingen, Germany

Kimmo Hakola Violin Concerto

WDR Sinfonieorchester KĂśln/Jukka-Pekka Saraste, sol. John StorgĂĽrds 18.1. Cologne, Germany Akseli, monologue opera Photo: Tony Lundman

Frida and Diego – a new opera by Kalevi Aho

Avanti! & Finnish Chamber Opera/Ville Matvejeff, sol. Jorma Hynninen 28.2. Helsinki, Finland

Olli Kortekangas Mobile

Tapiola Youth Symphony 24.1. Espoo, Finland

Rolf Martinsson

HIGHLIGHTS

4/2012

Karin Rehnqvist: The voice is the source of all

Photo: Ester Sorri

When I search for the word `professor` on the Internet, images of nothing but prim and proper bespectacled elderly men in suits pop up. That is pretty far afield from the Karin Rehnqvist whom I meet dressed in a khaki green anorak and a thin knitted cap. But she is a professor in composition at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm all the same.

Do you enjoy being a professor? – I do. I have colleagues, something I have not had before, and not least students. I know that Karin has a degree in music education but I can’t resist asking whether she feels the need to teach. – Perhaps rather the need to share with others; that makes me feel good, and to pass on knowledge. Moreover, I have discovered that I actually know quite a bit. It all started with a project in high school. Karin set to music a poem by Stagnelius for flute, piano and voice. Later on she studied counterpoint, among other subjects, with Hans Eklund at the Royal College of Music. – It was very liberating to get to write lines. And to learn techniques? – Yes, but you can’t get stuck in thinking that competence is everything. Just because you know a great deal about composition doesn’t mean that you will be a good composer – I invent the wheel every time. It requires enormous concentration, do write that! But it actually began with choirs: a children’s choir, a girls’ choir, an adult choir at the church in Nybro. Having arrived in Stockholm, she led the Stans kör (City Choir) for 15 years. – We did productions with a purpose and one idea that we carried through. I wrote music that was not difficult but different – TILT and Fields of Light, for instance. I think what we did still seems fresh. You have written a great deal for young singers where I as a listener perceive that they get something to tell. Is your music influenced by the performers you write for?

HIGHLIGHTS

4/2012

– I have set to music children’s texts in which they can recognise themselves. But I have also used texts that give them strength, texts to grow with. If you are allowed to sing “I am strong”, you will also become strong. – It is important to write something which helps the performer to develop and takes him/her on a journey. But contact with the public is at least as vital, a concert is something that people do together. It has to do with communication – and a sense of humour. I like to surprise my audiences with something that is a little nutty, “you weren’t expecting this”, without it being jaunty. With any luck something happens to the listener as well, a transformation. Light has been a theme with you. But some of your later works, for example Tenebrae – with a text by Paul Celan – have dark, dense and rather difficult texts, with music that is sparesly written and with quarter tones that give them an almost tormented expression; and Teile Dich Nacht has a painful text by Nelly Sachs. Is there more darkness nowadays in your works than before? – No, the darkness has always been there. Already Song from The Story of Fatumeh, which I wrote for Orphei Drängar in 1988, is a song of mourning for men’s choir, although I was actually not aware of this until afterwards. This was interesting because it constituted a breakthrough into a traditionally female arena. How do you go about choosing texts and language? – A text should sound good, it should have a mood and a dominant character that is suitable for the piece, and I should be able to add something. Sometimes I start out with the idea and create a framework for the piece and then I try to find an appropriate text. Sometimes I get struck, for example by Björn von Rosen’s text in To the Angel with the Fiery Hands.

– One can hardly expect that a choir from a foreign country can do justice to a Swedish text. Then it is better to choose another language, as in Salve Regina – which is in Latin. I tried out various sounds and suddenly the word “salve” suggested itself. That is how I happened to choose the Salve Regina text: “Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy…” It is a fantastic text with both joy and lamentation. And I also added a line of my own: “pray for our earth”; I thought it was needed. In her piece, Haya, Karin even went so far as to invent her own language. – I wrote the music first and then I made up a bright language with many consonants. It was extremely hard to find something that does not sound like anything else. Not only did the Hayan language come into existence, the piece was also a Rehnqvistian outcry with a character and expression unlike anything in the Swedish choral tradition. When one sings Bach’s music one is struck by how instrumentally it is written, even the vocal parts. In your case it seems just the opposite, as if your point of departure is the voice even when you write for instruments. – The voice is the source of all. I like to research the vocal sound, as in To the Angel with the Fiery Hands, where the oboe plays for a long stretch together with two voices, so that in the end one doesn’t know which is which. Cries, head tones, falsetto song, chest voice – I love chest voice – it doesn’t have to be beautiful. One often finds in Karin’s music an undulation, a crescendo-diminuendo, which is similar to breathing. And, of course, in order to use one’s voice one must breathe. – I always start by singing forth the ideas, I “articulate myself along” as someone said. Most of the expression lies in the articulation. The tones only need to be right. Karin Ekedahl

Mikko Heiniö’s unusual piano concerto hybrids Mikko Heiniö once joked that he wouldn’t even attempt to write ten symphonies, but that ten piano concertos would be a bit more unusual. Unusual and untypical his concertos are indeed, exploring the worlds of choral music, dance, opera and jazz with a disregard for artistic borders.

Photo: Jussi Vierimaa

Mikko Heiniö (b. 1948) has composed two symphonies, three operas and numerous other works for very different combinations of voices and instruments. His piano concertos, which already number nine, nevertheless represent the only genre he has returned to again and again. Why? Back in time, his musical awakening was prompted very much by his affection for the piano – his own instrument – and for the concerto as a form of composition. It is also in his concertos that he has been most inventive, actively seeking alternative modes of expression and revolutionising the generic concept. Many of his piano concertos are indeed fantastic hybrids full of surprises, intelligence, fantasy and seductive appeal, and the pianist is always an integral element of the texture rather than a lone virtuoso soloist. Every new work should, in Heiniö’s opinion, succeed in conjuring up something unique, so that the listener will feel it would have been a great pity had it

never been composed. He aims at a specific, distinctive concept for each when deciding on his instruments, the way the piece will fit the performing venue, and any multi-art aspects he can work into it. The first two piano concertos had already been written before Heiniö embarked on his composition studies and he has subsequently withdrawn them. The Third (1981) was premiered by Liisa Pohjola, his piano teacher at the Sibelius Academy. It clearly differs from his other concertos and (like the Fifth) represents the traditional format. It has a challenging, virtuoso solo part for which the orchestration leaves plenty of breathing space. As usual in Heiniö’s works, percussions occupy a prominent role. Right up to the climax, the concerto is constructed using a sort of canon technique, the different sections of the orchestra each in turn imitating the piano. Acting as foils to the soloist in the Fourth Piano Concerto (Genom kvällen/Through the Evening, 1986) are a mixed choir and a string orchestra. The dreamy text by Bo Carpelan blends via the choir to become part of the glittering fabric. The piano part underlines the moods and colours the content, but it also allows the soloist to show off. Genom kvällen evokes associations with Heiniö’s Landet som icke är (The Land That Is Not) for children’s choir and the world of the church opera Riddaren och draken (The Knight and the Dragon) with its impressive vocal writing. The Fifth Piano Concerto (1989) begins with a violent Agitato that integrates the piano with the orchestra, as it were, with its repetitive cluster chords. As the work proceeds, it gives way to transparent arpeggios and its role becomes more lyrical and noticeable. Sounds muted and plucked at times lead the soloist into mystical spheres. The ending is almost excruciatingly beautiful orchestral music that has points in common with Heiniö’s symphony Possible Worlds. The Sixth and Seventh Piano Concertos, Hermes (1994) and Khora (2001), are sister works and their powerful, intensive topics point to Greek mythologies and their psychoanalyti- ▶▶▶ HIGHLIGHTS

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REPER TOIRE TIPS ▶▶▶ cal interpretations. Heiniö composed them both

as dance works and installations in close partnership with choreographer Tiina Lindfors. Hermes is scored for piano, soprano and string orchestra, while Khora has five percussion players instead of an orchestra. Both concertos can also be performed in concert versions. Rhythm has always been an integral part of Heiniö’s music, and his passion for this can be traced back to the rock bands of his youth. The rhythmic beat springs both from the body and from various generic traditions, culminating in Khora, which also bears West African echoes. But then Heiniö did, after all, spend several periods at the Villa Karo in Benin, composing and learning how to drum. “The body’s expressive power, the performer’s transformation into a grand illusion, the intensity of the presence… Collaborating with Lindfors and the ERI Dance Theatre, I seriously began to believe in the magic of music theatre,” he wrote. In the Kuukonsertto (Moon Concerto, 2008) commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mikko Heiniö once again sets off along a new path, and comes up with more surprises. Pairing the piano is a mezzo-soprano, and the music has an operatic feel and clear elements of Lied. There are also some quotations from and variations on the song Kung Erik (King Eric) by Hugo Ingelius and John Dowland’s Galliard to Lachrimae for lute. According to Heiniö, the listener may not always be aware of these lyrical melodies, but the scent is nevertheless there. The Moon Concerto is a kindred work to Heiniö’s highly-acclaimed opera Eerik XIV (Erik XIV) and proceeds like a drama, as if from one scene to the next. Sometimes it is the piano’s job to comment on the singer, at others to carry the music along. Heiniö’s most recent concerto is once again a leap into new territory. Nonno for amplified piano and big band (Piano Concerto No. 9, 2011) was a commission from the UMO Jazz Orchestra. At first, Heiniö decided to give jazz a wide berth, even though there are some strong pointers to jazz in some of his earlier works, but in the end he got carried away by the characteristic big band sound. And this he successfully combines in Nonno with orchestration steeped in colour. Mikko Heiniö is already warming to the idea of writing a tenth piano concerto. It could be scored for piano, wind quintet and string quintet, but he is also toying with other options. One thing is, however, certain: it will once again be a new, exciting and unique addition to his series of piano concertos.

TOBIAS BROSTRÖM Piano Concerto No. 1 – Belle Époque (2010/11) Dur: 21’ string orchestra A nostalgic retrospect of an epoch long past, viewed in a modern light. The opening movement is quick and lively, with energetic, rhythmical motives. It passes over into a lyrical reflection, which leads on to the calm, impressionistically coloured middle movement that also bears traces of Swedish folk music. In the finale the rhythmical motives return and culminate in a brilliant virtuoso ending.

DANIEL BÖRTZ Concerto for Piano – Songs (2004) Dur: 32’ 2232/4221/11/str Börtz describes his concerto as “dark and broad”, and points out the prominent role of the percussion. There are effective dynamic contrasts, powerful culminations, extraordinary sonorities and serene, cantabile passages which create a feeling of tranquillity and solitude. The work is concluded with a strikingly built-up climax in the orchestra (ffff ), which then fades away and leaves the pianist alone in a quiet chorale.

KIMMO HAKOLA Piano Concerto (1996) Dur: 55’ 3222/2220/12/synth/str Kimmo Hakola’s mammoth Piano Concerto caused quite a stir at its very first performance. Its lavish range of styles has everything the soloist or listener could hope for, from heroic pathos and humour to heavenly visions. Hakola says he did not wish to impose any constraints, but rather to let the work decide where it wanted to go. The result is an unorthodox cornerstone in Finnish keyboard literature.

FREDRIK HÖGBERG Ice Concerto (2012) Dur: 25’ 2222-4231-14-piano/str/backtrack (optional synchronised back projection videos by Högberg) Trying to reveal the secrets of the ice core, we are taken along to the world of ice crystals, where we can experience delightful and groovy music, as well as burning pianos. The inner essence of the ice is interpreted on the film screen by a forceful, partly animated, dance. The music starts out virtuosic and beautifully, and ends with a hair-raising pop finale. Something out of the ordinary.

OLLI KORTEKANGAS Piano Concerto (2010-11) Dur: 27’ 2222/2221/12/hp/str This virtuosic piece begins with a piano chorale, the material of which is soon taken up and appropriated by the orchestra. The third movement is a solo cadenza constructed on the lines of a passacaglia, partly improvised or planned. The concerto derives its strength from the shifting colours and moods, and there are some quick, movie-like cuts.

KAI NIEMINEN Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Reflections… In the Enchanted Waves… of Time…) (2007) Dur: 35’ 2222/2200/11/hp/str

Henna Salmela

HIGHLIGHTS

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Selected piano concertos

A work inspired by Georges Perec’s book Life: A User’s Manual. The story in the book about the two swindlers has been transferred in the music to the passages tinged with irony for the French horn. Other key words of the concerto are Liszt, gondola and Venice. Nor is Chopin forgotten, either; there is a brief quotation from the E minor Piano Concerto in the closing movement.

VELIMATTI PUUMALA Seeds of Time (2004) Dur: 38’ 3333/4231/13/hp/upright piano/str Puumala has divided his orchestra into smaller units and singled out players to act as a bridge between orchestra and soloist. The first two, hectic movements are “daytime music”, while the third has softer tones. It is a movement of static images, of windows on a time that just exists without moving. Various seeds of time are sown here and there into the music: snatches of jazz, beautiful melodic outbursts and meditative passages.

TAPIO TUOMELA Piano Concerto (2008) Dur: 32’ 2222/2200/01/0/str This concerto written for Iiro Rantala works on the principle of “faster, higher, stronger”. It has room for improvisation, some jazzy jinks and a pinch of performance. Tuomela makes the most of his sinfonietta-sized orchestra, and the communication between conductor, soloist and orchestra has all the panache of live music-making.

WILHELM STENHAMMAR Piano Concerto No. 2 in D Minor (1904-07) Dur: 30’ 2222/4231/1/str Conceived in one single span, this four movement, romantic classic is characterised by a “war of the keys”. This conflict creates a tension between piano and orchestra, which is only resolved when the soloist, after the cantabile and melancholy third movement, with a subtle and virtuoso transition, lures the orchestra into his key, in the glorious finale.

LEPO SUMERA Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1989/rev1997) Dur: 19’ 2200/1000/10/str In the first movement, the piano sparkles over transparent orchestration. The role of the soloist is absorbed and minimalistic rather than virtuosic. The second movement begins with a meditative piano theme that grows and culminates in a mighty crescendo. The use of the timpani in the manner of a shaman’s drum is evocative of the potent music of Veljo Tormis.

ADOLF WIKLUND Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Minor (1917) Dur: 27’ 3223/4231/1/str There are those who describe Wiklund’s Piano Concerto as a combination of Rachmaninov and Grieg. Here we have a flowing elegance, expressive melodies, Nordic melancholy and harmonic surprises. It is easy to be carried away by the unexpected sweeping gestures and melodies, as well as by the splendid handling of the orchestra. A romantic gem.

REVIEWS Choral music at its best

Dafgård’s swaying Esprit

Tormis ranks as a front-line Estonian choral composer, and that’s no mean thing! He has sovereign command of the choral idiom, and this CD is far from the ordinary plodding malechoir sound and repertoire. Hufvudstadsbladet 26.9.

It is full of effects and witty rhythms that can drive a musician crazy, but get audiences to sway in their chairs from enjoyment; thus the piece is as easy to listen to as it is hard to play. This is a piece which we hope to hear again and which has its own spirit, its own joie de vivre. Sundsvalls Tidning 28.9. Photo: Ghadi Boustani

Kalevi Aho

Veljo Tormis: Vastlalaulud, Pikse litaania, Veljo Tormis Helletused, Raua needmine, Muistse mere laulud, Hamleti laulud etc. CD: Orphei Drängar /Cecilia Rydinger Alin (BIS-SACD 1993 “Curse upon Iron”)

Impressive chamber works

Jörgen Dafgård: Esprit World premiere: Nordic Chamber Ensemble, 27.9.2012 Sundsvall, Sweden

Trio con Brio Copenhagen

Refined Madetoja symphony The orchestra has discovered both the elegantly-perfumed twirls of a waltz and brass fanfares of almost military bearing in the Frenchly-refined score (3rd symphony). Kaleva 6.10. Leevi Madetoja: Symphony No. 3, The Chess Game, Lyrical Suite Oulu SO/Markus Lehtinen, 4.10.2012, Oulu, Finland

Surely the mark of significant art

Hakola does not leave cold

Having listened with growing admiration to the performance I am convinced that Alles Vergängliche is a major contribution to organ music to the extent that it may prove to be the most significant such work since Messiaen’s Livre du Saint Sacrament…It has the quality of drawing the attentive listener back to it, time and again – surely the mark of a significant work of musical art. International Record Review Nov. 2012

Everything else that night was overshadowed by Kimmo Hakola’s Guitar Concerto. Wow!... Southern warmth, the wild rhythm of castanets and solemn brass combined in an all-round frolic. The woefully wonderful melody in the second movement was a stunning mood piece. And finally the last movement gleefully pulled the rug from under the audience’s feet. Kaleva 20.10. Kimmo Hakola: Guitar Concerto Oulu SO/Santtu-Matias Rouvali, sol. Timo Korhonen, 18.10.2012, Oulu, Finland

Kalevi Aho: Organ Music (Alles Vergängliche, Three Interludes) CD: Jan Lehtola, organ BIS-CD-1946

Photo: Soren Svendsen

Aho’s decisions as a composer clearly are based on a wish to communicate and to make an impression on the listener’s emotions as well as on his or her intelligence…all three of these works are impressive. International Record Review Sept. 2012 Kalevi Aho: Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet, Trio for Clarinet, Viola and Piano, Sonata for Two Accordions CD: Osmo Vänskä, clarinet, Veli & Susanna Kujala, accordion etc. (BIS-CD 1886)

A dreamlike fantasy I would call the Triple Concerto a dreamlike fantasy in which music history flits by in all its lyrical deliciousness…It is amusing and rhapsodic, but also serene… One is struck by how an almost Spartan score can contain so much character. Dagens Nyheter 2.11. Sven-David Sandström: Six Pieces for Piano Trio and Orchestra Swedish premiere: Royal Stockholm PhO/Thomas Dausgaard, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen, 31.10.2012 Stockholm, Sweden

Anders Paulsson

Daring Martinsson Heavenly on the theremin

It is a surprisingly direct work, with almost the warmth of melody from a Hollywood movie – here we find passages ranging from the style of Korngold to that of Bernstein, especially in the moonlit slow movement, which develops into a brazen, broad melody reminiscent of something composers did not dare write thirty years ago. Toccata Press Sept. 2012 Rolf Martinsson: Double Bass Concerto CD: Oslo PhO/Jukka Pekka Saraste, sol. Dan Styffe (Simax PSC 1324)

Kalevi Aho: Eight Seasons (Concerto for Theremin and Chamber Orchestra) World premiere: ChO of Lapland/John Storgårds, sol. Carolina Eyck, 10.10.2012 Rovaniemi, Finland

Haglund makes the cello sing The music combines lyrical reverie with a rare intensity in expression. The long drawn-out mood painting has at times a rather lofty feel, though in a refined and sensitive manner. The music makes the cello sing as if it were a natural instrument, in a space that just becomes ever larger. Göteborgsposten 17.9.

Photo: Per Möller

Tommie Haglund: Flaminis Aura Gothenburg SO/David Afkham, sol. Ernst Simon Glaser, 12.9.2012 Gothenburg, Sweden

Illuminated Sixth

Tommie Haglund

The Sixth Symphony’s chaos and anxiety grab the listener at once and never really let go of their grip…it is turned into a long, dark but deeply moving and beautiful deathly wandering… How long will the Swedish people live under the delusion that the country lacks its own Sibelius, Grieg or Shostakovich? OPUS.43 November 2012 Allan Pettersson: Symphony No. 6 CD: The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra/Christian Lindberg (BIS-SACD 1980)

Photo: Bengt-Åke Persson

The electronic marvel, the theremin, proved in the hands of Carolina Eyck to be an impressive, enchanting instrument… The concerto was music of heavenly beauty. Particularly impressive were the episodes in which the theremin really had a chance to rummage about in the low, gut-resonating register. Lapin Kansa 12.10.

Intense saxophone concertos The most substantial work on the record is Anders Eliasson’s half-hour-long concerto, swarming with flashes of wit but still built on a large scale. Sven-David Sandström´s Four Pieces are more playful, while Rolf Martinsson, in his just recently composed Golden Harmony, concentrates on the ethereal and romantic qualities of the soprano saxophone. As always, Anders Paulsson entrances us with his intense and beautiful playing. Aftonbladet 5.11. Anders Eliasson: Concerto for Soprano Saxophone, Sven-David Sandström: Four Pieces, Rolf Martinsson: Golden Harmony CD: NorrlandsOpera SO/Christoph Altstaedt, Norrköping SO/Johannes Gustavsson, Helsingborg SO/Tobias Ringborg, sol. Anders Paulsson (Phono Suecia PSCD188)

HIGHLIGHTS

4/2012

N E W P U B L I C AT I O N S CHORAL

CHAMBER/INSTRUMENTAL

TINA ANDERSSON

JÖRGEN DAFGÅRD

The Angel

GE 12141 (score and parts)

GE 12029 (score and parts)

12

d 20 war nA the in ositio rize p t P Com Firs rs of Singe er inn m W anhol Sv

MIKKO HEINIÖ

Whims and Wizardry

PA R T I T U R /S C O R E

Male choir a cappella

MIKKO HEINIÖ

KIMMO HAKOLA TOIVO KUULA ORCH. HAKOLA

FG 55009-624-0 (score), 55009-625-7 (parts)

South Ostrobothnian Folk Songs

Piano Quartet ‘The Voice of the Tree’ (‘Puun ääni’)

Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra / Juha Kangas, sol. Jorma Hynninen, baritone

FG 55009-627-1 (score), 55009-628-8 (parts)

for male choir Text: Phonetics FG 55009-626-4

Alba ABCD 348 (“On The Fields of Tapiola”)

FREDRIK SIXTEN

PAAVO HEININEN

Valse romantique

Tomumieli / Mind of Dust

Murasaki in Casa Ando

for violin and piano GE 12110

for male choir and two djembe drums Text: Lassi Nummi (Fi) FG 55009-809 (chorus part), 55011-126-4 (djembe parts)

NorrlandsOpera SO/Christoph Altstaedt, Norrköping SO/ Johannes Gustavsson, Helsingborg SO/Tobias Ringborg, sol. Anders Paulsson

Kivi-laulut (Kivi Songs)

Canzona, for string trio

Juhlamarssi hiljaisille miehille / Festive March for Quiet Men

Four Pieces for Soprano Saxophone andd Symphonic Band

Phono Suecia PSCD 188 (“Swedish Concertos for Soprano Saxophone”)

FG 55009-622-6 (score), 55009-623-3 (parts)

Lyrics and music

BIT 20 Ensemble/Ingar Bergby Mirkk Art Forum/OVEM-00036 (”Nordic Music for Chamber Orchestra”)

MIKKO HEINIÖ Three Folk Songs, for double mixed choir oir

Maria Suite

S COR E S

for mixed choir Text: trad., Bonilla, Luther, di Todi (Eng/Spa/Ger/Lat/Rus) FG 55011-105-9

MÅRTEN JANSSON

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA

MIKKO HEINIÖ

Och glädjen den dansar (With Joy We Go Dancing)

Symphony No. 2

Kamarikuoro Kaamos/Dani Juris

FG 55009-541-0 (score)

Alba NCD 47 (“Valossa”)

FREDRIK HÖGBERG

Ora pro nobis

for five part female choir a cappella Text in Latin GE 12172

Clarinet Quintet

Café au lait, for flute, clarinet, t, violin, cello and piano

It Is so Peaceful here Now

Golden Harmony

SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖM

ANDERS ELIASSON

It Is so Peaceful here Now

for male choir a cappella Text: Christian Engquist (Eng) Winner of the Svanholm Singers Composition Award 2012 GE 12189

Jörgen Dafgård

Mixed choir a cappella

Trio per violino, corno e pianoforte

ANDERS ELIASSON Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and String Orchestra

ROLF MARTINSSON

Clarinet Quintet – Whims and Wizardry

The Angel

for eight part mixed choir a cappella Text: Michail Lermontov (Eng) Prize winner in the Abbey Road Studios Anthem Competition GE 12171

CHRISTIAN ENGQUIST

NEW CDs

ERLAND VON KOCH

Higgins and Mr. Wrengengengengeng

Ora pro nobis

a music tale/ballet for narrator and orchestra GE 10513

Femstämmig damkör/ Fivepart female choir a cappella

OLLE LINDBERG

Tuba Concerto

Pleven PhO/Bjørn Breistein, sol. Eirik Gjerdevik Albert Schnelzer

ROLF MARTINSSON

Som hjorten längtar till vattenbäckar (Like the Dear that Yearns)

Violin Concerto No. 1

GE 10999 (solo part), GE 11000 (score)

for female choir and organ Text: Psalm 42 (Swe) GE 12145

ALBERT SCHNELZER

Violin Concerto Coupled Airs

PA R T I T U R /S C O R E

Violin Concerto – Coupled Airs

GE 11989 (score), GE 11990 (solo part)

LAWO Classics LWC 1039 (“Music for Blue Days”)

FREDRIK SIXTEN A Swedish Christmas Oratorio

Sofia Vocal Ensemble, Capella Nordica/ Bengt Ollén, sol. Helena Ek, soprano Footprint Records FRCD 069

SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖM Music for the Liturgical Year

The following works, previously published by Modus Musiikki, are now available at Fennica Gehrman

Stockholm Cathedral Choir, Gustaf Sjökvist Chamber Choir, Hässelby Motet Choir/Gustaf Sjökvist Ladybird 79556824

MIKKO HEINIÖ

NORDGREN, PEHR HENRIK

Espresso, for violin, cello and piano

Epilogue, for cello and piano

FG 55011-120-2 (parts)

FG 55011-119-6

KAI NIEMINEN

TAPIO TUOMELA

Compositions for Kantele

Foliant, for two pianos

FG 55011-122-6

FG 55011-124-0

Compositions for Kantele Quartet

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA

FG 55011-123-3

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA Divertimento

LEEVI MADETOJA Elegia

St. Michel Strings/José Serebrier Alba ABCD 341 (“Adagio”)

Notturno e danza, for violin and piano

FG 55011-121-9

ALLAN PETTERSSON Six Songs, 24 Barefoot Songs

Torsten Mosssberg, tenor, Anders Karlqvist, piano

For further information about our works or representatives worldwide check our web sites or contact us at:

Sterling CDA-1672 (”Complete songs”)

JEAN SIBELIUS Presto Gehrmans Musikförlag AB

Fennica Gehrman Oy Ab

Box 42026, SE-126 12 Stockholm, Sweden Tel. +46 8 610 06 00 • Fax +46 8 610 06 27 www.gehrmans.se • info@gehrmans.se Hire: hire@gehrmans.se Web shop: www.gehrmans.se Sales: sales@gehrmans.se

PO Box 158, FI-00121 Helsinki, Finland Tel. +358 10 3871 220 • Fax +358 10 3871 221 www.fennicagehrman.fi • info@fennicagehrman.fi Hire: hire@fennicagehrman.fi Web shop: www.fennicagehrman.fi Sales: kvtilaus@kirjavalitys.fi (dealers)

LEEVI MADETOJA Elegia

Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra/Juha Kangas Alba ABCD 344 (“Nostalgia”)

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