Highlights 3-2011

HIGHLIGHTS

3/2011

NEWSLETTER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Victoria Yagling in memoriam

Pettersson’s Music – powerfully gripping

NEWS New Fennica Gehrman website

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra have jointly commissioned a 20-minute orchestral work by Albert Schnelzer. The world premiere will take place in London in the 2013/2014 season and the Swedish premiere in Stockholm later that same season.

New Heiniö commissions The UMO Jazz Orchestra has commissioned Mikko Heiniö to write a work for big band.

The result is a new addition to his varied series of piano concertos. The soloist in the premiere of Nonno, for amplified piano and big band (Piano Concerto No. 9) in April 2012 will be Kirmo Lintinen. According to him, the new Heiniö concerto is rich in moods and textures, and the juxtaposition of Valkyries and modulating blues scales is delightful and at the same time natural. The Key Ensemble has also commissioned Heiniö to write a new work for mixed choir, which it will premiere sometime in 2012.

Broström a composer in focus

Photo: Saara Vuorjoki /Fimic

Tobias Broström is Composer in Focus with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and the Västerås Sinfonietta during the 2011/2012 season. Besides two premieres (a cello concerto for Mats Rondin and an orchestral work for the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra’s centenary), other works performed during that season will include: Kaléidoscope, Transit Underground and the piano concerto Belle Époque with Per Tengstrand as soloist.

Swedish Weekend in Oxford This year the Oxford Lieder Festival is featuring a Swedish Weekend (20-23 October). Top Swedish singers are presenting classics from the Swedish art song literature: composers include Hugo Alfvén, Gösta Nystroem, Ture Rangström, Gunnar de Frumerie, et al. Also performed will be Albert Schnelzer´s song cycle Requiem, set to texts by Karin Boye from 2004.

Premiere of Kortekangas opera

The autumn season at Helsinki’s new Music Centre is full of exciting concerts. To name just a few: Uuno Klami’s impressive Psalmus for chorus and orchestra was heard on 9 September when Hannu Lintu conducted the Sibelius Academy Orchestra. Kalevi Aho’s orchestral Minea was on the programme on 21 September with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the FRSO will perform music

by Erik Bergman on 25 November in honour of his centenary. The concert will include his Bardo Thödol – a seldom heard classic for chorus and orchestra, as well as other works.

and other material

nor d ic

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H ighlights

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Photo: Saara Vuorjoki /Fimic

www.gehrmans.se/highlights www.fennicagehrman.fi/highlights Cover photo: Stage premiere of Pyörteitä (Whirls)

by Uuno Klami/Kalevi Aho (Photo: Marko Mäkinen) Editors: Henna Salmela and Kristina Fryklöf Translations: Susan Sinisalo and Robert Carroll Design: Göran Lind ISSN 1239-6850 Printed in Sweden by TMG Sthlm, Bromma 2011

The Trio La Rue is to play music by Kai Nieminen at a profile concert at Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki on 16 November.

The programme will include solo and chamber works, such as the piano trio Reflecting Landscapes commissioned by the Trio La Rue.

Virva Garam, Susanna Arminen & Markus Pelli

Hakola’s Kivi Songs on tour

3/2011

NEWSLE T TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Sound samples are available at

Profile concert of music

by Nieminen

Highlights of the new Helsinki Music Centre

Olli Kortekangas’s opera Yhden yön juttu (One Night Stand) is to be premiered at the Helsinki Music Centre on 15 October. It was commissioned by the Sibelius Academy with a grant from Senate Properties. Described

by Kortekangas and the librettist, Michael Baran, as a detective and love-story hybrid, the opera promises some dramatic turns of events. The soloists are students of opera singing at the Sibelius Academy and the orchestra is the Academy’s own opera orchestra conducted by Markus Lehtinen.

HIGHLIGHTS

Photo: Hans Lindén

New Schnelzer commission

Fennica Gehrman has launched a new website at www.fennicagehrman.fi. Among the new features are the concert calendar on the Composer pages listing major performances, and the facility for easy searching of orchestral works for hire by, for example, category or duration. There are also lots of sound samples on the Composer pages.

Jorma Hynninen will be performing Kimmo Hakola’s Kivi Songs (Seven Songs to Texts by Aleksis Kivi) with six Finnish orchestras in the course of autumn 2011. Hakola has made orchestral transcriptions of this song cycle originally scored for voice and piano. The Songs will be among the items on the programme for Hynninen’s 70th birthday tour beginning in Turku (premiere 15 September, Turku Philharmonic) and proceeding to Kokkola (Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra), Tampere (Tampere Philharmonic), Helsinki (FRSO), Jyväskylä (Sinfonia Finlandia Jyväskylä) and joint concerts by the city orchestras of Kuopio and Joensuu in December.

P r emie r es Autumn 2011

Orchestral works by Puumala on CD

Rolf Martinsson’s Concert Fantastique will be given another three performances by Martin Fröst. Marin Alsop will lead the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in two performances on 26-27 October and Edward Garner will conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in the UK premiere on 24 November. Also coming up is Suite Fantastique, a short version of the concerto for clarinet and piano, to be premiered by Fröst and Roland Pöntinen in Wigmore Hall, London, on 10 November.

The trumpet concerto Bridge will also receive its Austrian premiere. Under the baton of John Storgårds, Håkan Hardenberger and the Tonkünstler Orchestra will give five performances in Musik­verein, St. Pölten and Salzburg between 1 December and 15 January.

Alba Records is releasing Seeds of Time and Chainsprings , two orchestral works by Veli-Matti Puumala, in September. The Tampere Philharmonic is conducted on this disc by Hannu Lintu, and Roland Pöntinen is the soloist in the piano concerto Seeds of Time lasting nearly 40 minutes.

Veli-Matti Puumala

ohuesti niin kuin kaikki tässä, tai hieman runsaammin

Sibelius Academy Vocal Ensemble, cond. Matti Hyökki 1 September, Helsinki, Finland (Opening Concert of the Music Centre) Photo: Saara Vuorjoki

Martinsson’s concertos

God Be Merciful, Psalm 67

Westminster Choir, cond. Joe Miller 29 October, Princeton, USA

Mikko Heiniö

Maestoso

Tampere PO, cond. Hannu Lintu 7 October, Tampere, Finland

Olli Kortekangas

Pettersson’s Violin Concertos in Germany

Yhden yön juttu (One Night Stand), opera

Sibelius Academy Opera Orchestra, cond. Markus Lehtinen 15 October, Helsinki, Finland

Tobias Broström

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra

Västerås Sinfonietta, cond. and sol.

Mats Rondin 20 October, Västerås, Sweden

Rebekka Hartmann

New Requiem by Sandström Sven-David Sandström’s Requiem, composed in 2010, will receive its world premiere in March 2013 with Gustav Sjökvist conducting the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and choir. Lasting about 60 minutes the Requiem is a large scale work including symphony orchestra, six part choir and four vocal soloists.

Photo: Christine Schneider

ANDERS ELIASSON

The Russian premiere of Anders Eliasson’s Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and String Orchestra will take place at the Moscow International Performance Arts Centre on 6 October. Igor Butman is the soloist together with the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Cem Mansur. The concerto can also be heard this autumn in Kotka, Kouvola (Kymi Sinfonietta) and Oulu (Oulu Symphony Orchestra) with Anders Paulsson as soloist and Johannes Gustavsson conducting.

Photo: Mats bÄcker

SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM

Danish National SO, Trio con Brio, cond. Kristjan Järvi 15 September, Copenhagen, Denmark

Einojuhani Rautavaara’s orchestral Apotheosis is part of the score for Aki Kaurismäki’s new film Le Havre. Screened at Cannes in May and first showing in Finland in September 2011, the score is a typical Kaurismäki blend: tango, blues and classical. But instead of Tchaikovsky, Kaurismäki this time chose Rautavaara, in a performance by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mikko Franck (See new CDs).

Eliasson’s Saxophone Concerto in Russia and Finland Martin Fröst

Turku PO, cond. Juha Kangas, sol. Jorma Hynninen 15 September, Turku, Finland Six Pieces for Piano Trio and Orchestra

Music by Rautavaara in Kaurismäki film

Rebekka Hartmann will be the soloist with the Mittelsächsische Philharmonie in Allan Pettersson’s Violin Concerto No. 2 at two concerts in Döbeln (28 Oct) and Freiberg (3 Nov) under the baton of Jan-Michael Horstman. The Leipzig String Quartet performs the Concerto for Violin and String Quartet in Gewandhaus, Leipzig (30 Oct), together with violinist Yamei Yu, and in Munich (24 Nov) with Ulf Hoelscher as soloist.

Kimmo Hakola

Kivi-laulut (Kivi Songs, version for voice and orchestra)

Einsame Fahrt - Violin Concerto

Swedish Radio SO, cond. Manfred Honeck, sol. Ulf Wallin 27 October, Stockholm, Sweden

Kai Nieminen

Quintet for Harp, Flute and String Trio

Lily-Marlene Puusepp, harp, Hanna Kinnunen, flute, Linda Hedlund, violin, Maya Egashira, viola, Seeli Toivio, cello 3 November, Helsinki, Finland

ROLF MARTINSSON

Suite Fantastique

Martin Fröst, clarinet, Roland Pöntinen, piano 10 November, London, UK

Tommi Kärkkäinen

Heavy Strings

St. Michel Strings, cond. Ari Rasilainen 24 November, Mikkeli, Finland

ALBERT SCHNELZER

Cello Concerto – Crazy Diamond

Gothenburg SO, cond. Nikolai Znaider, sol. Claes Gunnarsson 1 December, Gothenburg, Sweden

Börtz’s 12th Daniel Börtz has recently finished his Sinfonia 12, a 40-minute symphony in four movements, which also includes vocal sections (baritone solo).

It is a Swedish Radio commission scheduled to be premiered during the 2012/2013 season.

A museum for the Estonian-Swedish composer Eduard Tubin was opened at the newly restored Alatskivi castle in Estonia on 18 June (Tubin’s 106th birthday). The museum presents an overview of Tubin and his music. Visitors can listen to recordings, watch scores and manuscripts, and musical instruments like Ludvig Juht’s double bass, for which Tubin composed his well-known concerto. Photos and films shot by Tubin himself and other personal items are also shown. Read more about the museum in Eino Tubin’s report on www.gehrmans.se.

Inauguration of the Tubin Museum at Alatskivi Castle H ighlights

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Photo: Eino Tubin

Tubin Museum opened in Estonia

T

his year we are celebrating the centenary of composer Allan Pettersson’s birth.

Pettersson (1911-1980), one of the greatest ever of Swedish symphonists, completed fifteen symphonies. They have aroused interest internationally, above all in Germany and the USA, and all but one have been recorded twice or more times. The Seventh Symphony (196667), his most popular work, is frequently performed; it has received two Swedish Grammy Awards and has been used for ballet, documentaries and feature films. In 1964 Pettersson was chosen to be among the first group of composers who received a lifelong guaranteed minimum income from the State, he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, and three of his symphonies were given world premieres broadcast live on Swedish TV.

there to listen to the jazz group, but they were nonetheless deeply moved by Pettersson’s music, which received a standing ovation.

In 1968 the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under the conductor Antal Doráti tried out a new concert format, called “Rendezvous”; the idea was to reduce the distance between musicians and audiences. The concert opened with several of Pettersson’s Barefoot Songs, in between which the singer related anecdotes from the composer’s life.

After the intermission the orchestra premiered the Seventh Symphony, which was a tremendous success, and to many people it became an eye opener towards Pettersson’s music.

In the late 70s concertgoers in the USA started to take an interest in Pettersson’s music, and when the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sergiu Commissiona performed Pettersson’s

class boy who, despite his childhood, manages to carry out grand artistic exploits and even to instil compassion for Pettersson.

But of course it could also be something in the music itself that affects listeners, the question is then what? In Pettersson’s symphonies there are sections with simple traditional harmonies. Often there are long periods in which one single chord is repeated over and over under elegiac melodies, melody lines that seem to be without a beginning or an end and which can continue on endlessly. Several of the most frequently performed symphonies end in this manner, and this final peace and harmony often seem to have made a strong impression on listeners.

Another important feature is the immense contrasts that exist between what could be called – to oversimplify – a modernistic tone language and a traditional, simple tone language. But unlike many

Allan Pettersson’s music has affected listeners profoundly.

What is it in the Swedish symphonist’s music that evokes these reactions, and what part has the composer’s life story in this? Per-Henning Olsson, who is working on a doctoral dissertation about Pettersson’s symphonic composition, discusses these questions.

Pettersson’s Music – powerfully gripping

Despite all his successes we have more often read about his setbacks. We have read about his difficult and impoverished childhood, about how he was persecuted by proponents of radical modernism; about his painful, chronic rheumatoid arthritis, about the life-threatening kidney illness which kept him hospitalized for nine months; and about how he forbade the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra to perform his music because its management opposed him.

Why this focus? Indeed, the composer himself was to a great extent implicated in creating and reinforcing this image through interviews and other statements. Instead of talking about his success, he called himself “a goddamned browbeaten Swedish coolie”.

Powerfully gripping There are many examples of how Pettersson’s music has affected listeners powerfully, how people have been “gripped” or “struck” by it. One can read similar wording already in the reviews after the premiere of the Second Symphony, in 1954, and indeed in reviews ever since. We will take a look at some concrete examples to illustrate this: Pettersson’s Concerto No. 3 for String Orchestra had its premiere in 1958, at a concert where a jazz group led by pianist Bengt Hallberg took over after the intermission. Most people were

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Eighth Symphony in 1977 Commissiona soon afterwards received a letter from a Mr. Arenson: “The Pettersson symphony touched a sensitive nerve in both of us. Emotions needing exploration, but left untended, were evoked by this marvellous symphony.

Mr. Pettersson has the ear of all who have ever clenched their teeth, not in anger, but in sustained anguish…We talked long into the night about the piece.”

What’s inside the music?

Why then does Allan Pettersson’s music grip listeners so? Is it the music alone, or has the musical experience been influenced by Pettersson’s life story?

If we watch TV programmes about him, read articles in newspapers from his own time, or on the Internet in 2011, interest in his working-class background, illness and isolation seems never to cease. Some of the headlines used include: “Music makes life bearable” and “Here he sits with his anger, his bitterness, his music and his crippled fingers”. The idea is that the music is “subjective”, that a highly personal expression addresses the listener, far from series and systems in the “objective” modernism. This leads, directly or indirectly, to the assumption that the music “is about” that life, and hence so moving. And part of this, in my opinion, is the identification with the working-

other composers in his generation, Pettersson is not ironic or dissociating in the “simple” sections – he is serious. And some people are probably gripped by precisely this: that there is something in these big, massive symphonies which they understand and can relate to. Even more so, it is especially about contrasts.

The “modernistic” sonorities found in much art music from the 20th century can create very strong feelings, for example anguish. But a work that consists of such sonorities only can be too difficult to take in.

In Pettersson’s music the modernistic sonorities are related more directly to a simpler tonal language that more listeners feel at home in. Moreover, the different sides of his music are articulated by rhythm as well as by instrumentation, and the unity with all its parts becomes possible for most listeners to grasp. It is possible that this is conducive to more people being strongly gripped by Pettersson’s music.

Some think that one should avoid intellectualising music, above all in cases such as Pettersson’s, which many people experience as emotionally charged in the extreme. Of course, each must make his or her own judgement, but remember Pettersson’s own words: “Music – that is indeed a colossally intellectual work.”

P e r - H enning O lsson

Victoria Yagling in memoriam

An outstanding cellist and composer, Professor Victoria Yagling died suddenly in Helsinki on 1 August 2011. Her playing had a unique natural musicality, a very beautiful sound and an absolute purity. She was also a prolific composer.

NEW CDs Kalevi Aho

In memoriam Pehr Henrik Nordgren (& works by Nordgren, Pärt etc.)

ChO of Lapland, cond. and sol.

John Storgårds, Raschèr Saxophone Quartet Alba ABCD 322 (“In memoriam Pehr Henrik Nordgren”)

ANDERS ELIASSON

Quo Vadis

Swedish Radio SO, Swedish Radio Choir, cond. Johannes Gustavsson, sol. Michael Weinius CPO 777 495-2

Mikko Heiniö

V i c t o r i a Ya g l i n g was born in Moscow on 14 May 1946. At the age of 23 she won the Gaspar Cassadó International Violoncello Competition in Florence and the following year, in 1970, took second prize at the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow.

She studied the cello for 11 years under the tutelage of Mstislav Rostropovich, who held his student in high esteem. Having started composing early on, Victoria Yagling complemented a cello degree at the Moscow Conservatory with a degree in composition, in which she was taught by such notable composers as Dmitry Kabalevsky. As part of her music studies, she attended lectures by great Russian artists such as David Oistrakh and Emil Gilels. All of this served to open up a wide-ranging and diverse world of music to the young Yagling.

Victoria Yagling forged a successful, international career as a soloist, playing with many major orchestras and conductors. In 1990 she moved with her son – the pianist Victor Chestopal – to Finland, where she taught at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and composed; she also continued her career as a soloist, giving concerts all over the world. She taught many international masterclasses and served on international competition juries.

Victoria Yagling’s playing had a unique natural musicality, a very beautiful sound and an absolute purity. These elements were also a feature of her teaching, which soon brought about good results.

One of her students, Sennu Laine, accompanied

by Anastasia Injushina, won the prestigious cello-piano duo competition in Munich.

Central to Victoria Yagling’s prolific oeuvre as a composer are her pieces for cello: three concertos , a suite for cello and string orchestra, four sonatas and numerous other works. She also wrote orchestral music, two string quartets, pieces for piano and a lot of vocal music – settings of poems by, among others, Anna Akhmatova and Arseniy Tarkovsky. Her music is profoundly lyrical yet full of energy and temperament, and her contrapuntal thinking is artful. Hopefully her compositions will one day receive the full recognition they deserve.

I got to know Victoria Yagling as a wonderful musician and a kind-hearted friend.

Luceat

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Herran rukous (Lord’s Prayer)

Sven-David Sandström/ Henry Purcell

Hear My Prayer, O Lord

Ingvar Lidholm

GÖSTA NYSTROEM

Sinfonia del mare, Sinfonia breve

Malmö SO, cond. Christoph König, sol. Malena Ernman BIS-CD-1682

ALLAN PETTERSSON

Symphonies Nos 1 & 2

Norrköping SO, cond. Christian Lindberg Also including a one-hour DVD by David Lindberg about Pettersson’s unfinished first symphony and the preparation of the score.

BIS-CD-1860

Veli-Matti Puumala

Seeds of Time, Chainsprings

Tampere PO, cond. Hannu Lintu, sol. Roland Pöntinen Alba Recods ABCD 319

Einojuhani Rautavaara

De profundis

Die erste Elegie

Fuga 9302 (”Missa Baltica”)

Footprint Records FRCD 045 (“What Is Life?”)

Key Ensemble, cond. Teemu Honkanen

Toivo Kuula

Merenkylpijäneidot (Sea-bathing Nymphs), Tuijotin tulehen kauan (Long I Stared into the Fire) & other works

BBC Concert Orchestra, cond.

Martyn Brabbins, sol. Susan Gritton Dutton Epoch CDLX 7272

Voices Nordicae, cond. Lone Larsen

Apotheosis & other works for orchestra

Helsinki PO, cond. Vladimir Ashkenazy, Swedish RSO, cond. Mikko Franck

Ondine ODE 1081-2 (“The Best of Einojuhani Rautavaara”)

E r k k i R a u tio H ighlights

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REVIEWS Challenging Sandström

Maritime tone in Staern’s Wave Movements

Sandström’s earlier ballet Nimrud has an entirely different tone language. Much more experimental and advanced in sound, it is perhaps a more challenging work. The performances by the Malmö Opera Orchestra under the direction of David Björkman are indeed inspired.

Opus 35 Summer 2011 Sven-David Sandström: Nimrud

Photo: Tina Sjögren

The music continually changes and develops horizontally, with soft, reflective xylophone tones in the background. The wavelike, regular rhythms are eventually broken up into continuous, heightening, vertical wave crests. Daniel Raiskin with orchestra maintains the maritime tone intensely and in focus.

Rhein-Zeitung 31.5.2011 Benjamin Staern: Wave Movements

World premiere: Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie, cond. Daniel Raiskin, 28.5.2011 Koblenz, Germany

CD: Malmö Opera Orchestra, cond. David Björkman (SCD 1150)

All-Night Vigil’s timeless mystery

The most beautiful piece

Standing ovation for Kortekangas’ oratorio in Washington

The expressive and the meditative go side by side in a well-balanced way and the feeling of wonder and mystery so intrinsic to the Orthodox Mass is present from the first note to the last.

Hufvudstadsbladet 23.8.2011 Einojuhani Rautavaara: All-Night Vigil (Vigilia)

The sea breathes through Gösta Nystroem’s music...

Malena Ernman’s efforts in the lyrical middle section [of Sinfonia del Mare] set to Ebba Lindquist’s poem “The Only One” confirms once again that this is indeed the most beautiful piece of music ever written in Sweden.

Dagens Nyheter 17.8. 2011 Gösta Nystroem: Sinfonia del Mare

The Choral Arts Society usually reaches celestial heights and during their latest presentation they also had the Children’s Chorus of Washington to add to the lofty pleasure as they presented the world premiere of Olli Kortekangas’ ”Seven Songs for Planet Earth” which got a rousing standing ovation from the nearly filled Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

AllArtsReview4u.com / May 2011 Olli Kortekangas: Seven Songs for Planet Earth

Helsinki Chamber Choir, cond. Nils Schweckendiek, sol. Niall Chorell, tenor, Jyrki Korhonen, bass, 21.8.2011 Helsinki Festival, Finland

World Premiere: Choral Arts Society and other performers, cond.

Norman Scribner 22.5.2011 Washington DC, USA

Virtuoso fairytale music by Hakola The music of Hakola creates a musical adventure story all of its own. Entertainment, humour and intelligent sophistication go hand in hand. Hakola is a virtuoso at switching from one genre to another. He has a children’s song, minimalism, Baroque, archaic ‘wise old Väinämöinen’, a Christmas carol, Balkan music. Hakola binds all the motley ingredients into a coherent, translucent whole.

Helsingin Sanomat 25.8.2011 Kimmo Hakola: Mara ja Katti (Mara and Katti), a family opera

CD: Malmö SO, cond. Christoph König, sol. Malena Ernman (BIS-CD-1682)

Bergman’s zest for life

Photo: Juha Reunanen

World premiere of the stage version: Helsinki PO, cond. John Storgårds, choreography by Matti Paloniemi, 25.8.2011 Helsinki Festival, Finland

Broström and Eliasson in Glasgow Broström’s short and snappy Transit Underground and Eliasson’s Symphony No. 4 were further examples of a rich Scandinavian orchestral palate that appears to have roots in the crisp soundscapes of Sibelius and Nielsen.

Living Scotsman 28.6.2011 Photo: Sasa Tkalcan

World premiere: Taite ry, cond. Tuomas Hannikainen, sol. Paavo Kerosuo, Anu Hostikka, Tanja Kauppinen-Savijoki and Juha Hostikka, 23.8.2011 Helsinki Festival, Finland

Le voyage shows Bergman as a composer for the didgeridoo and bullroarer but also of tango and salsa.

The orchestration is delicious in places…

The musical patchwork of Le voyage is a moving expression of a zest for life.

Helsingin Sanomat John Storgårds conducted Le voyage 27.8.2011 from a bird’s-eye perspective.

Bergman: Le voyage (Dance Poem)

Gösta Nystroem

A wonderfully rich, Romantic symphony [Symphony No. 4] in the grand tradition with great sweeping gestures, heroic climaxes, and a distinct Herrmannesque accent …A funky and well-orchestrated piece of street music [Transit Underground] with an irresistible beat.

The Herald 27.6.2011 Tobias Broström: Transit Underground, Anders Eliasson: Symphony No. 4

UK premieres: BBC Scottish SO, cond. Andrew Manze, 24.6.2011 Glasgow, Scotland

Great Finnish ballet – an intoxicating experience Uuno Klami’s ballet came back to life in style. And what a long time it was coming – this great Finnish ballet…An intoxicating, audio-visual experience.

Helsingin Sanomat 27.8.2011

The choreography brings out the dramatic highlights of the massive orchestral score with humour, irony and some surprising theatrical solutions…A dance of colours, carnival – but not without some serious strains. The third act composed

by Aho works well as the culmination.

Hufvudstadsbladet 28.8.2011 Uuno Klami – Kalevi Aho: Pyörteitä (Whirls)

World stage premiere: Alpo Aaltokoski Company, choreography by Aaltokoski, 25.8.2011 Helsinki, Finland

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Photo: Marko Mäkinen

Carnivalistic fireworks in terms of both dance and costumes. The whole performance was unique, because never before has there been a so-called full-length ballet in three acts in Finnish contemporary dance.

Demari 28.8.2011

Repe r toi r e tips Works for string orchestra – with passion Photo: Micke Grönberg/Sveriges Radio

Tõnu Kaljuste, Hugo Ticciati and Johan Bridger in the world premiere of Samsara.

Skilful Broström The most enjoyable was Tobias Broström’s double concerto Samsara. Broström once again succeeded in creating a piece that alternates between swing based on riffs, harmonious sweetness and an exciting sound image…This shows how skilfully Broström steers between the anticipated and the surprising.

Dagens Nyheter 30.8.2011 Tobias Broström: Samsara

World premiere: Swedish National Youth SO, cond. Tõnu Kaljuste, sol. Hugo Ticciati, Johan Bridger, 28.8.2011 Stockholm, Sweden

A world of possibilities The composition is like a Gregorian chant that swells into rich textures…The music of the last movement, consisting of minimalist string shimmering and the infinity of bells could have gone on longer. Time slowed down in its meditative mood.

Turun Sanomat 2.7.2011 Olli Kortekangas: De virtutem in virtutem, Songs of a Pilgrim

World premiere: Hanna-Leena Haapamäki, soprano, Nicholas Söderlund, bass and other performers, 7.6.2011 Naantali, Finland

Lindberg seduces In the recently composed Three Shakespeare Sonnets we recognise the same titillating tone language that has made Nils Lindberg such a tremendously fascinating composer. There are melodies that both seduce and move us.

Falukuriren 18.7.2011 Nils Lindberg: Three Shakespeare Sonnets

World premiere: Bergslagen ChO, cond. Marit Strindlund, sol.

Margareta Bengtsson, 15.7.2011 Rättvik, Sweden

Sensitivity and shades of colour The tremendous sensitivity, shades of colour and varied structure sound like a timeless painting… This magnificent work and performance brought time to a complete standstill. One would in fact have been happy to linger for ever in this landscape.

Valkeakosken Sanomat 8.7.2011 Kai Nieminen: Reflecting Landscapes

World premiere: Trio La Rue (Virva Garam, piano, Susanna Arminen, violin, Markus Pelli, cello), 6.7.2011 Sääksmäki, Finland

Pettersson gives voice to pain The introduction could have been Hindemith’s but soon the music sets off to the point where it starts aching. That’s how we know him, Allan Pettersson, the one who gives voice to pain... Yamei Yu and the Leipzig Quartet’s strong performance makes this CD a must.

Svenska Dagbladet 28.6.2011 Allan Pettersson: Concerto for Violin and String Quartet

ANDERS ELIASSON Ein schneller Blick…ein kurzes Aufscheinen (2003) Dur: 17’

This is a fine example of Eliasson’s exquisite string writing. The title is not a quote but a distinctive feature of the work. The music begins with a minimalist and frenetically repetitive rhythmical energy which is followed by a more melancholy Tranquillo section. The concluding Presto has an almost fiddler-like drive. Commisioned by Camerata Roman.

Mikko Heiniö Minne (1996)

Dur: 18’

Heiniö’s Minne features both rhythmic fireworks and lyrical moments. It consists of three movements each different in character. Hovering in the background of Martellato are rhythm and blues; Cantabile is marked by expressive, singing polyphony and Animato is a quick, throbbing dance.

Premiered by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and Juha Kangas.

Paavo Heininen Sinfonietta Op. 66i (1996/2000)

Dur: 19’

The Sinfonietta is in four movements (Sonata, Scherzo, Elegia and Ricercata), all waltzes. Together they trace a symphonic arch. Dance is strongly present throughout Heininen’s big opus 66 embracing over 40 works for string or chamber orchestra.

Commissioned by the Lapland Chamber Orchestra.

ROLF MARTINSSON A. S. in Memoriam (1999/2001)

Op 50a (version for 15 strings 5-4-3-2-1) Op 50b (version for large string orchestra) Dur: 12’ A. S. in Memoriam was composed in memory of Arnold Schönberg and his Verklärte Nacht. Martinsson has sought to mirror the vocabulary, gesture and musical characters present in Schönberg’s music. It is Martinsson’s most frequently performed work and was premiered by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under Neeme Järvi.

Pehr Henrik Nordgren Transe-Choral (1985) 15 strings (5-4-3-2-1) Dur: 33’

A work in two broad sections, the idea being for the listener to mentally prepare for the second by listening to the silence after the first. Its painful chorale themes ultimately lead to a radiant, almost sacred, trance-like final motif. Premiered by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra and Juha Kangas.

romantically soaring world of sound. The dreamlike Tranquillo leads to a dancing closing movement bursting with life and drive. A Tapiola Sinfonietta commission premiered in 1998.

MARIE SAMUELSSON Rotations (1997/2003) Dur: 14’

The sound idea of Rotations was born when Samuelsson was composing in her country house. The rain was pouring down onto her tin roof, so heavily that it flowed into her music. She could not concentrate on anything else but that dripping sound which is present in the work right from the start: pizzicato-dripping strings in the high registers that play percussive counter-rhythms. Commissioned by Musica Vitae.

ALBERT SCHNELZER Emperor Akbar (2010) Dur: 12’

As always Schnelzer gives the listener an imaginative experience. Inspired by the complex character of Akbar the Great, the music starts brutally with the Emperor chopping the head off a young rebel, after which rhythmical and violent passages alternates with more contemplative and serene scenes. A string-orchestral version of Schnelzer’s Second String Quartet. Premiered by the Tromsø Chamber Orchestra.

BENJAMIN STAERN Cross Draught (Tvärdrag) (2007) Dur: 8’

In Staern’s energetic and vigorous string piece the orchestra is divided into two groups placed opposite each other. Melodic lines, chords, rhythms and grooves are thrown from one group to the other creating a musical cross draught. Commissioned by the Malmö Opera Orchestra.

Veljo Tormis Reminiscentiae (2009) Rather than a suite as such, this is a sort of “rendezvous of reminiscences”.

It consists of choral works transcribed for string orchestra that can be performed separately or in com­ bination. Among them are the four-movement Nature Pictures (Looduspildid) and Tormis’s hypnotically primitive St. John’s Day Songs (Jaanilaulud), the sustained, singing melodies of which are just right for strings.

Erkki-Sven Tüür Action-Passion-Illusion (1994)

Dur: 15’

Juhani Nuorvala Sinfonietta (1997/98) Dur: 19’

The Sinfonietta is a string-orchestra version of Nuorvala’s Second String Quartet. The opening Andante movement at times creates a

The rhythmically syncopated opening is indeed an action-packed start to this popular work with Passion, a meditative middle movement, at its heart. It sets off in a low register on the double basses and cellos and gradually expands into a chorale-like, intensive outburst. The Tallinn Chamber Orchestra premiered the work with Tõnu Kaljuste.

CD: Leipziger Streichquartett, sol. Yamei Yu (MDG 307 1528-2)

H ighlights

3/2011

7

new p u b lic a tions SCORES

CHORAL

DANIEL BÖRTZ

Thomas Jennefelt

Epodos

An die Hoffnung

for orchestra

for ten part mixed choir Text: Friedrich Hölderlin (German)

GE 11520

GE 11750

ROLF MARTINSSON

Karin Rehnqvist

Double Bass Concerto No. 1

Haya! Song to the Joy of Day

GE 11846

Language: Hayan (created by the composer) for mixed choir SATB a cappella, div.

GE 11918

for two mixed choirs SATB a cappella, div.

GE 11944

C H A M B E R & I N S T R U M E N TA L Kai Nieminen

Anders Paulsson (arr.)

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child

for mixed choir SATB div, ad lib soprano saxophone

Autumn Sonnet (Syyssonetti)

for clarinet and piano

GE 11873

FG ISMN 979-0-55009-894-7

Sven-David Sandström

Veli-Matti Puumala

Hommages fugitifs

God Be Merciful, Psalm 67

FG ISMN 979-0-55009-937-1

GE 11912

for six part mixed choir a cappella

9 Preludes for Piano

LARS ERIK LARSSON

Géza Szilvay

Yellow Pages – Piano accompaniments

An extensive 150-page book including piano accompaniments to the Colourstrings Violin School’s three Yellow Pages books.

FG ISMN 979-0-55011-006-9

Violin ABC – Piano accompaniments for Books E & F FG ISMN 979-0-55009-642-4

Förklädd gud (A God Disguised)

Organ Version (transcription by Johannes Landgren) Text: Hjalmar Gullberg (Swe/Eng/Ger) A God Disguised is one of the really great classics in Swedish choral music. Now the orchestral part has been transcribed for organ making it possible to perform the work in a new way under new conditions.

GE 11874

BOOK VOCAL Lars Karlsson

DANIEL BÖRTZ

Med havet (With the Sea)

Maria

Scene for Mezzo-Soprano and String Quartet Text: Kjell Espmark (Swedish/English)

Four Songs for Baritone (or Mezzo-Soprano) and Piano Text: Karl-Erik Bergman (Swedish)

GE 11582 (score) GE 11583 (set of parts)

FG ISMN 979-0-55009-818-3

Mikko Heiniö

Tranströmersånger (Tranströmer Settings)

BENJAMIN STAERN

Syyskesän laulu (Late Summer Song)

for baritone and piano (available also for bass and piano) Text: Lassi Nummi (Finnish) FG ISMN 979-0-55009-806-0

for alto voice and piano Four poems from Tomas Tranströmer’s Sorgegondolen (Sorrow Gondola) (Swedish) GE 11797

LAILA BARKEFORS

Det brinner en sol inom oss. Allan Pettersson – En tonsättares liv och verk (There Is a Sun Burning inside Us. Allan Pettersson – The Life and Works of a Composer)

A biography about Allan Pettersson with photos by Gunnar Källström.

Text in Swedish.

GE 11952

For further information about our works or representatives worldwide check our web sites or contact us at: 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 • info@gehrmans.se Hire: hire@gehrmans.se Web shop: www.gehrmans.se Sales: sales@gehrmans.se H ighlights

3/2011

Fennica Gehrman Oy Ab

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)