Nordic Highlights 1 2016

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HIGHLIGHTS

1/2016

NEWSLETTER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Einar Englund – classicist and classic Marie Samuelsson and the aspect of love

NEWS Watch Jansen play Eliasson in RSPO Play!

Mats Larsson Gothe has recently completed his “ …de Blanche et Marie…” – Symphony No. 3, which is based on material from his opera by the same name. The symphony will be premiered by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/Benjamin Shwartz during the Composer Festival at the Stockholm Concert Hall in April.

In connection with the festival, db Productions will release a portrait CD including the Symphony No. 2, Autumn Diary and The Apotheosis of the Dance, featuring the Västerås Sinfonietta under the direction of Fredrik Burstedt.

Fredrik Högberg will write a multimedia concerto, including film, for the Dutch violinist Isabel van Keulen. The concerto, that will have a South African theme, is commissioned jointly by the Düssel­dorf SO, the Odense SO, the Norrköping SO and the Malmö SO; the premiere is planned for the 2017-18 season.

Urtext of Sibelius Humoresques Fennica Gehrman has published an Urtext edition of Jean Sibelius’s Six Humoresques for Violin and Orchestra opp. 87 & 89. Based on the composer’s manuscripts, it has an extensive preface and commentary shedding light on the genesis of the work and correcting many misprints and misinterpretations in the previous editions. The Urtext edition also includes the early version of Humoresque No. 1, now published for the first time. The study score is available for sale and the orchestral sets are for hire. A new piano reduction is scheduled for publication later in the spring. It is more pianistic than the current one (Ekman, 1922), which was never fully acknowledged by Sibelius.

Bikernieki Forest

On 18 March Sven-David Sandström´s St. John Passion will be premiered at the Konzerthaus Berlin by Mogens Dahl´s Chamber Choir, soloists and the string quartet Brooklyn Rider. The passion will also be the opening work for the Thüringer Bach Wochen on 19 March, after which it will receive its Scandinavian premiere in Copenhagen and Lund.

Stefan Parkman will lead the Choir of the West and Choral Union and the Pacific Lutheran University Symphony Orchestra in the American premiere of Sandström’s St. Matthew Passion in Tacoma, Washington on 22 and 23 March.

NEWSLE T TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Sound samples , video clips and other material are available at www.gehrmans.se/highlights www.fennicagehrman.fi/highlights Cover photo: From the opera Medea/Emma Vetter (Carl Thorborg), Marie Samuelsson (Josef Doukkali) Editors: Henna Salmela and Kristina Fryklöf Translations: Susan Sinisalo and Robert Carroll Design: Göran Lind ISSN 2000-2742 (Print), ISSN 2000-2750 (Online) Printed in Sweden by TMG Sthlm, Bromma 2016

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Sinfonietta Riga, under the direction of Normunds Sne, is taking Jonas Valfridsson´s chamber-orchestra piece Bikernieku Mezs on tour of Latvia with four performances in May. This moving piece by Valfridsson was premiered last November and is written in memory of the victims (mostly Jews) of the mass killings in the forest of Bikernieki outside Riga during the German occupation of 1941-45.

Beatbox Concerto

by Jennah Vainio Fennica Gehrman has signed a publishing agreement for Jennah Vainio’s popular concerto Fujiko’s Fairy Tale for beatboxer and string orchestra drawing on influences from such directions as Oriental music, hip hop, dance, video games and the world of Manga/ Anime. The concerto has been performed 18 times in five years, mostly in the USA, where beatboxer Shodekeh added it to his repertoire and has performed it with the Baltimore Symphony under Marin Alsop. Felix Zenger and RudiRok have been the soloists in Finland. Versions for symphony orchestra and sinfonietta are being planned.

Photo: Music Finland/Saara Vuorjoki

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Photo: Viktor Gårdsäter

Sandström’s Passion premieres

HIGHLIGHTS

Photo: Jesper Lindgren

Högberg writes for van Keulen

Photo: Nikolaj Lund

New symphony by Larsson Gothe

Photo: Jan Olav Wedin

It is now possible to view Janine Jansen´s performance of Anders Eliasson´s violin concerto Einsame Fahrt in a video recording from the Stockholm Concert Hall in October of last year. Jansen plays together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic under Daniel Blendulf.

You will find the film on rspoplay.se and it will be available there until 27 May.

Tampere Biennale

P r emie r es

The programme for the Tampere Biennale offers Finnish orchestral classics and highlights. Ville Matvejeff will conduct the Tampere Philharmonic in a concert on 15 April: Usko Meriläinen’s Visions and Whispers . This latter (soloist Mikael Helasvuo) and the premiere of Lotta Wennäkoski’s Amor Omnia Suite work is based on her silent-film score (an Yle commission) and was recorded last year. Paavo Heininen’s mammoth organ concerto Aiolos is on the programme for the concert by the Guards Band, with Petri Komulainen as the conductor and Jan Lehtola as the soloist. Lasting over an hour, the concerto was first heard in Helsinki in spring 2014.

Spring 2016 VELI-MATTI PUUMALA

Pulses, for vibraphone and marimba

Christian Dierstein, 9.2. Freiburg, Germany

PAAVO HEININEN

Rauhan fanfaari

Guards Band/Pasi-Heikki Mikkola, 9.2. Helsinki, Finland

MIKKO HEINIÖ

Concerto for Organ and Orchestra

Turku PO/Leif Segerstam, sol. Jan Lehtola 11.2. Turku (Katedraali Soi), Finland

Record spring for Rautavaara concertos

Ingvar Lidholm celebrated his 95 birthday on 24 February. He has just compiled a new, revised version of Nausikaa Alone, a scene for soprano, chorus and orchestra from 1963, to texts by Nobel Prize Laureate Eyvind Johnson, to be published this spring. This January saw performances of Lidholm´s modernistic classic , with the NDR Sinfonieorchester in Poesis Hamburg, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and Brussels, and with the Tonhalle-Orchester in Zürich, all conducted

by Herbert Blomstedt, who in May will lead the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischer Rundfunks in another two performances of the work in Munich. Conducted by Patrik Ringborg, Poesis will also be played by the Staatsorchester Kassel on 25 March. th

Herbert Blomstedt and Ingvar Lidholm

SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM

Seven Pieces for Violin and Orchestra

Concertos by Einojuhani Rautavaara will receive a record number of performances during the spring season. The Harp Concerto is to get six in Austria in April, the first being at the Vienna Musikverein on 4 April, when the Niederösterreichisches Tonkünstlerorchester begins its tour of Austria. The soloist will be Xavier de Maistre and the conductor Kristiina Poska. Five solo concertos by Rautavaara were heard at a Helsinki charity concert at the end of January.

O/Modernt CO, Swedish Wind Ensemble/Kasper de Roo, sol. Hugo Ticcati, 20.2. Stockholm, Sweden The Giver of Stars

NOTUS Choir/Dominick di Orio, 26.2. Chicago, USA The Passion of St John

Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, sol. Lars Møller, baritone, Daniel Carlsson, counter tenor, Jens Bjørn-Larsen, tuba 18.3. Berlin, Germany Three Poems

Ensemble Konkret, sol. Marie Alexis, soprano 8.4. Stockholm, Sweden Concerto for Flute and Orchestra No. 2

Norrbotten CO /Eva Ollikainen, sol. Tobias Carron 14.4. Luleå, Sweden

Kari Tikka anniversary concert

JOHAN ULLÉN

The Deadly Sins for piano and string orchestra

Musica Vitae/Magnus Fryklund, sol. Johan Ullén, piano 26.2. Växjö, Sweden

Composer-conductor Kari Tikka will be 70 on 13 April, when a concert of his works will be held in his honour at Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki. Among the items on the programme will be his Armolaulu (Grace Song) and music from the opera Luther.

The soloists will be Jenni Lättilä, soprano, Esa Ruuttunen, baritone and Henri Hersta, organ and piano. Performances of Tikka’s well-received opera Luther have been planned for 2017, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

MARIE SAMUELSSON

Förnimmelser (Perceptions) – Septet

Ellen Ivansson, clarinet, Daniel Handsworth, bassoon, Dennis Vasiliev, horn, Anders Inge, violin, Ylvali Zilliacus, viola, Anja Inge, cello, Walter McTigert, double bass 2.3. Stockholm (Hesselby Chamber Music Festival), Sweden Photo: Britt Vuorio

Lidholm at 95

Aphrodite – Fragments by Sappho

Swedish Radio SO/Daniel Blendulf, sol. Katija Dragojevic, mezzo-soprano 11.3. Stockholm, Sweden

KALEVI AHO

Kaksi kansankoraalia uruille

Joni Vikki, Irina Vavilova, organ, 6.3. Helsinki, Finland Concerto for Tenor Saxophone and Orchestra

Pori Sinfonietta/Jan Söderblom, Lappeenranta City Orchestra/Tibor Bogányi, sol. Esa Pietilä 10.3. Pori/17.3. Lappeenranta, Finland Concerto for Timpani and Orchestra

Turku PO/Erkki Lasonpalo, sol. Ari-Pekka Mäenpää 22.4. Turku, Finland

BENJAMIN STAERN

Gageego!, 20.3. Gothenburg, Sweden

Pont de la mer; Morceau de concert pour cor solo et orchestre

Malmö SO/Marc Soustrot, sol. Einar Öhman, horn 30.4. Malmö, Sweden

MATS LARSSON GOTHE

“…de Blanche et Marie…” Symphony No. 3

Royal Stockholm PO/Benjamin Shwartz 7.4. Stockholm (Composer Weekend Festival), Sweden

LOTTA WENNÄKOSKI

Amor Omnia Suite

Tampere PO/Ville Matvejeff 15.4. Tampere (Tampere Biennale), Finland

TAPIO TUOMELA

Auld Rhymes Photo: Maarit Kytöharju

Lotta Wennäkoski is composing a new Guitar Concerto as a joint commission from the Kymi Sinfonietta and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. The soloist will be Petri Kumela and the premiere will be in Kotka during the 2017 spring season.

The Sibelius Academy has commissioned a work for symphony orchestra from Wennäkoski, to be premiered in November 2016.

PianoEspoo has commissioned a Piano Concerto from Matthew Whittall. The soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at the premiere during the 2017 festival will be Risto-Matti Marin, who is happy to collaborate with Whittall and has recorded his . big piano suite Leaves of Grass

Photo: Music Finland/Saara Vuorjoki

Commissions for Wennäkoski and Whittall

Waterfall (Imaginative music based on an etching by M. C. Escher)

Kaari Ensemble/Saara Aittakumpu 13.5. Helsinki, Finland

KIMMO HAKOLA

Partia maestoso

Susanna Kivistö, organ, 6.3. Helsinki, Finland Sibeliussånger (Sibelius Songs)

Eija Räsänen, soprano, Annikka Konttori-Gustafsson, piano 19.5. Helsinki, Finland H ighlights

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– classicist and classic

Born 100 years ago, Einar Englund composed music of biting irony and great drama, but also of fleeting beauty and subtle romanticism, and always brilliantly scored.

Einar Englund (1916–1999) is a Finnish classic. After the Second World War, he set himself apart from the National-Romantic trends then dominant in Finland with an idiom reflecting the influence of Shostakovich, Bartók and Stravinsky.

He had developed a keen interest in contemporary music while still a student at the Helsinki Conservatory, but his teachers favoured a command of the traditional compositional crafts rather than experiment. The Piano Quintet he composed as his degree assignment bears witness to this.

Musical echoes of the war The Continuation War of 1941–1944 between Finland and the Soviet Union, during which he was called to active service, had a decisive influence on Englund the man and his music. After the war, when the time came to process his experiences in music, he felt more in tune with Neoclassical irony, sarcasm and satire than with safe, familiar National-Romanticism. His new approach had come to stay – as had the marches and musical explosions that, he always insisted, were echoes of the war.

His first two symphonies, the War Symphony of 1946 and the Blackbird of 1947, placed Englund in the forefront of Finnish music. He also began to gain a reputation as an outspoken critic and as a brilliant improviser on the piano. In the 1950s he wrote the scores for a number of films, radio and theatre plays. He also composed concert music, such as the Introduzione e Toccata for piano, the popular first Piano Concerto , in which he was often the soloist, and a Cello Concerto.

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The 1960s were a “quiet” decade, during which he composed only some little pieces such as light songs, the reason for this being ascribed to his disappointment in the trend in new music. Englund the critic had made it clear that he abhorred the radical avant-garde, but his silence was also a consequence of the lengthy crisis that followed his first wife’s death.

New angles on Neoclassicism The “silent” period ended above all with the third symphony, Barbarossa (1969–1971). The next symphony, the Nostalgic (1976), is one of the Englund works most frequently performed.

Its elegiac tone is claimed to have been due to his sense of being alone with his ideals at a time when Modernism based on 12-tone technique reigned supreme. He did, however, experiment with dodecaphony in such works as the Passacaglia, the Hymnus sepulcralis for mixed choir, and the Fifth Symphony, Fennica (1978). But his basic approach continued to be Classical, not experimental. His music, and especially his solo and chamber works, had pronounced tonal and melodic features, examples being the two piano sonatinas, the Piano Sonata and the “happy” Violin Sonata.

In the 1980s his idiom took a deeply expressive turn in the Concerto for 12 Cellos known as an “apotheosis of the dance” and in the Cello Sonata inspired by the sound of church bells.

The text of the Sixth Symphony (1984, for mixed choir and orchestra) consists of aphorisms

by Heraclitus. For a man with first-hand experi-

Photo: Maynie Sirén

Einar Englund Erland Johansson’s painting of Englund (1991)

ence of war, they provided a means of expressing his optimistic faith in the dynamics that dominated the world and human life. The same underlying philosophy is reflected in the light, bright Flute Concerto (1985) in which a harpsichord adds a completely new timbre to the orchestral palette. His failing health in the 1990s ultimately prevented Englund from composing any new works. By the time he died, he had nevertheless won a growing international reputation, thanks principally to the many recordings of his works.

Variety of expression and clarity of message are salient features of Englund’s music. It is music of biting irony and great drama just as much as of fleeting beauty and subtle romanticism, and always brilliantly scored. He constantly discovered new and sometimes surprising angles on Neoclassicism. For him, the basic Classical values were not, however, just museum exhibits in a showcase but creative tools – the hallmarks of a classic composer.

C h r isti a n H o lm q v ist

Footnotes * Works by Einar Englund will be heard at numerous concerts in this centenary year. In Kokkola on 11 June, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra will perform his 4th Symphony, and also on the programme will be his Concerto for 12 Cellos. The Saimaa Sinfonietta paid tribute to him in February, and the centenary will be evident at several concerts in the Korsholm Music Festival in summer. * New, re-copied orchestral parts of Englund’s fourth symphony, the Nostalgic, have been published, and an orchestral score is now available for purchase.

Marie Samuelsson and the aspect of love

Photo: Josef Doukkali

When Marie Samuelsson enters her 60s, it marks the start of a new expressive area in her composing: music overtly exploring love in all its forms.

Physicality, Intellect, Rhythm, Force of Personality – these are the defining aspects, the watchwords, of Marie Samuelsson’s music. Physicality is felt throughout her music through its powerful sonor­ities, virile impressionistic timbres heard most spectacularly in the terrifyingly (and terrifically) elemental Air-Drum III for orchestra (1999), with its huge metal drum constructed from a metal air duct which sets the entire atmosphere vibrating. Indeed, the composer remarked to the present writer: “the physicality in my music is very much attached to timbre and/or sound” and timbre is something she works on as a primary aspect of every composition.

Intellect, ever-present in her oeuvre, is best exemplified where it demands something of the listener as well, whether in her electro-acoustic output, the grippingly atmospheric I vargens öga (In the Eye of the Wolf, 1997), or I Am – Are You? (2001), where an onstage horn duets with an offstage sampled voice, or her acclaimed violin concerto Bastet the Sun Goddess (2004, named from the Egyptian goddess who every night killed the snake-demon Apep to allow the sun to rise next day), one of Samuelsson’s most substantial utterances. Her brilliant use of rhythm as a binding structural agent in her music can be heard in the impressive string orchestral Rotations (1997/2003), a brilliantly conceived textural fantasia on intertwining tempi and in the chamber ensemble piece Flow (2000), where the listener’s ear is taunted and caressed simultaneously. The immediacy of expression of her music, instantly recognizable as hers, is testament to the force of her musical personality, as in the mesmerizing Airborne Lines and Rumbles (2009) or Singla (2007) , arguably her finest orchestral work to date.

All these elements unite in her largest work to date, the two-act chamber opera, Jorun – orm i öga ( Jorun Snake Eye; 2012-13). Lasting around fifty-four minutes, this is a deeply affecting and atmospheric tale of hope, naivety, betrayal, loss and (at length) a hard-won understanding of existence.

Jorun is also the composer’s richest score in terms

of instrumental resource (despite the relative modest forces employed: a clutch of soloists, chamber chorus and chamber ensemble) and expressive depth. It marks both the high point of a period of mostly chamber composition but also the start of a new expressive area: music overtly exploring love in all its forms.

A Love Trilogy Jorun’s scale is also carried over in Samuelsson’s latest major project, one which may have particular resonance for the newly betrothed composer – well, in 2015 – as she turned 60 (in February this year), a Love Trilogy (2015-16). If love in all its forms lies at the heart of Jorun and, indeed, the micro-opera Why Would I Not Believe in Love? that followed in 2014, it is even more so in Love Trilogy. The opening work is Aphrodite – Fragments by Sappho, a radiant 21-minute cantata for mezzo soprano and orchestra, although in form it can also be viewed as a continuous song cycle, setting five brief stanzas by the Greek Poetess. One of these was discovered only as recently as 2014 and is set by her – as the centrepiece – in Jesper Svenbro’s translation (Kyprispoem). Its expressive theme, like that of Sappho’s familiar verses, is erotic love, of the possessive desire for a woman that in turn possesses the lover.

In musical terms it builds on the lithe vocal lines and instrumental depth of Jorun – orm i öga, the composition which now seems an enabler for the Love Trilogy. Several extraordinary passages see some of Sappho’s words declaimed in whispers by members of the orchestra! The cantata will receive its world premiere in Stockholm on 11 March by Katija Dragojevic and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Blendulf.

The central span of the trilogy is A New Child of Infinity, a smaller-scale clarinet concertino, roughly half the length of Aphrodite and inspired by a poem of the Swedish poet Göran Sonnevi, the recipient of the Nordic Council’s 2006 Literature Prize. Here, the focus is on the love of a child,

so it is no surprise that A New Child of Infinity is dedicated to the composer’s two sons. Whether this was a factor governing the choice of a smaller orchestra than Aphrodite with no clarinets – aside from the bass instrument – or tuba and only pairs of horns and percussionists, is unclear. On the page the score seems unusually sparse in texture, the orchestra used with delicacy around the whirling clarinet soloist who plays almost incessantly.

That this concertino is slighter in build and duration, however, does not mean it is lesser in quality or importance to the trilogy as a whole. It was premiered in Malmö last November by Johnny Teyssier with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Soustrot.

The Eros Effect The final panel in the trilogy is still a work in progress at the time of writing, so has not been released yet. It bears the intriguing title of The Eros Effect and Solidarity, a reference to the work of the South Korean-resident North American writer and social activist George Nicholas Katsiaficas.

Marie Samuelsson interprets the “Eros Effect” as “the notion that the private love spills over into solidarity, moved out in charity and become a social movement.” Added to her expressed opinion that “Hatred and violence are taking too much space in the media and in social media today, while love is difficult to approach, on a philosophical level” and it is clear that The Eros Effect and Solidarity is set to be the climax and summation of the Trilogy. This assertion will only be verified, however, at the premiere in October 2016, to be given by the work’s dedicatees, the Nordic Chamber Orchestra directed

by Sarah Ioannides.

Physicality, Intellect, Rhythm, Force of Personality – these have been the defining aspects, the watchwords, of Marie Samuelsson’s music hitherto. Love now needs to be added to the list.

G u y Rick a r d s H ighlights

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Repe r t o i r e tips

REVIEWS

21st century works for mixed choir

TINA ANDERSSON Love´s Philosophy (2013) Dur: 6’

for SSATTBB Text: Percy Bysshe Shelly (Eng) “Nothing in the world is single; all things by a law divine in one spirit meet and mingle. Why not I with thine?” Nature and romanticism combine here in the best possible way. Tina Andersson plays with the acoustics by placing the choir in specific positions to bring out echo effects. Love’s Philosophy is dedicated to the Vocal Art Ensemble of Sweden and Jan Yngwe.

SVEN HAGVIL Orpheus with His Lute (2013) Dur: 5’30’’

for SSAATTBB Text: William Shakespeare (Eng) This work was commissioned by the Kammerchor Hannover and its conductor Stephan Doormann for their project “Shakespeare 21”. The music reflects the undulating tones from Orpheus´ lyre that make even the waves of the sea lie down to rest.

KIMMO HAKOLA De kaspiska tigrarnas gud (The God of the Caspian Tigers) (2013) Dur: 55’

Seven labyrinths for soprano, baritone and

mixed choir Text: Stella Parland (Swe) This piece is a fantastic journey. Parland’s text is brimming with lively, colourful, allegorical imagery and Hakola writes that the markings in the choral score – light breeze, fresh breeze, ice, beasts and paradise – illustrate the mood evoked by the text.

Hakola’s music is a mixture of vibrant and richly-nuanced soundscape enhancing Parland’s magical sense of mystery.

MIKKO HEINIÖ Ilta (Evening) (2013-14) Dur: 55’

11 Dance Songs for mixed choir, clarinet and cello Text: Lorca, Whitman, Baudelaire, Kivi, Boye et al. (original languages) A skilfully constructed suite of 11 songs divided into five thematic entities connected by intermezzos on the clarinet and cello. The music is demanding without seeming difficult, at the same time leaving room for the simple and beautiful. The heart of this cycle, Kaukainen viita, is a moving lullaby sung a cappella. Ilta was premiered together with the ERI Dance Theatre and a choreography

by Tiina Lindfors, making it an all-round experience.

LARS KARLSSON Tre motetter (Three Motets) (1999)

Dur: 18’ for SSAATTBB and soprano Text: from the Psalms (Swe) The three motets together constitute a little choral symphony, but they can also stand alone. Karlsson has drawn on several classical genres, from medieval parallel organum to a conven-

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Photo: Carl Thorborg

for SATB divisi Text: Marian texts from the Breviary of the Dominican Order (Lat) This work is a homage to the composer Arvo Pärt, whose basic triadic technique has inspired it. The work consists of three movements: Memento, Maria mater gratiae and Gloria tibi, where melodic lines weave themselves together into a unity.

The work was premiered by the Chamber Choir at the Malmö Academy of Music.

tional fugue. The third motet may also be taken as a set of variations on a chorale, using various types of canon, also at textual level. The result is relaxed, communicative music.

OLLI KORTEKANGAS The Return (2014) Dur: 15’

for SATB divisi Text: Wendell Berry (Eng) The Return is based on the poem The Mad Farmer, Flying the Flag of Rough Branch, Secedes from the Union by the well-known US writer and environmental activist Wendell Berry. The poem is a powerful statement against the faceless audacity of the market economy and in favour of sustainable development. The Return is skilfully-written, colourful music, its expressive scale ranging from virtuosic brilliance to lyrical, meditative moods. The Tapiola Chamber Choir commissioned the work for its 30th anniversary concert in 2015.

JACOB MÜHLRAD Nigun (2014) Dur: 11’30’’

for double choir divisi a cappella Text: Fragment from Jewish church services (Heb) Jacob Mühlrad´s idea with this piece was to do an abstraction of a Jewish service. The lyrics are fragments of different services. The word nigun means melody. Within Kabbalah (a part of Jewish mysticism) the wordless melody is often referred to, as it is thought to communicate more than a melody with words. Nigun was premiered by the Swedish Radio Choir in 2014.

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA Four Romances from the opera Rasputin (2003/2012) Dur: 8’ for SAATBB

Text: Einojuhani Rautavaara/ transl. Jaakko Mäntyjärvi (Fin/Eng) Rautavaara’s opera Rasputin featured a group of singing gypsies.

Instead of borrowing original Roma music, Rautavaara wrote his own and later thought it was a pity to leave the melancholy, moonlit songs to languish within the confines of the opera.

He therefore arranged a set of “unabashedly sentimental and thoroughly melodic” pieces, first for male choir, and in 2012 for mixed choir. The song Troika trotting is dedicated to his wife Sini, as the lyrics were inspired by the green of her eyes.

KARIN REHNQVIST Tenebrae (2012)

Dur: 7’ for SATB divisi Text: Paul Celan (Ger) Tenebrae was commissioned by the Norwegian Ultima Festival for the Latvian Radio Choir. It was included in the Concrescence Project, which was initiated by Lasse Thoresen to investigate untempered scales and song techniques found in folk music from diverse parts of the world, with Western choirs. The means of expression include quarter tones and quasi-imitative passages alternating with homophone sections accompanying Paul Celan’s sensitive text.

SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM The Half-Finished Heaven (2013)

Dur: 5’ for SMzATBarB Text: Tomas Tranströmer/transl. Robin Fullton (Eng) “The eager light streams out, even the ghosts take a draught.”

Tranströmer´s existential and hopeful poem is painted in Sandström’s setting by soft and bright strokes. The Half-Finished Heaven was commissioned and premiered by the Sofia Vocal Ensemble, and has now been recorded on the CD One Early Spring Evening (CR017).

Emma Vetter and Karl-Magnus Fredriksson

Medea – Magnificent and Monstrous What is most fascinating with Daniel Börtz´s “Medea” is how he lets the pain spot of perfidy, hate and death be washed over by beauty and brotherly affection… The music depicts characters and situations, it simmers and boils, it anticipates and is anxious… It ranges from intensive suggestion and restless weeping or filmy strings, over vibrating emotions, marked rhythmical percussion accents and violent outbursts, to endless tranquillity in chaos…

Emma Vetter´s dramatic soprano is colourful and ex­pansive; her Medea raises levels of emotion to the ex­tremes and stretches the limits… Confronted with infan­ti­cide her madness is perforated by flashes of lucidity and motherly love… Alone in the final scene Emma Vetter’s Medea is human, magnificent and monstrous.

Svenska Dagbladet 24.1.

Already at the world premiere Medea stands out as a modern classic, deeply affecting without being the least sentimental.

Opus 66 Febr-March 2016 The utmost operatic art… Masterly!

Dagens Nyheter 25.1.

This is his sixth opera, and it is without doubt his best.

Swedish Radio Kulturnytt 24.1.

Daniel Börtz: Medea

World premiere: The Royal Swedish Opera/Patrik Ringborg, soloists Emma Vetter, Karl-Magnus Fredriksson et al., director Stefan Larsson, 23.1.2016 Stockholm, Sweden

Bridge in London Emerging out of a rumbling darkness, expertly controlled

by Rouvali, the concerto swoops and soars between hard-edged passages in which a five-note motto is never far away and a swooning but never quite resolved theme for full orchestra. At times, even Hardenberger seemed to be playing on the very edge of the attainable.

The Guardian 29.1.

Rolf Martinsson: Bridge – Trumpet Concerto No. 1

Philharmonia Orchestra/Santtu-Matias Rouvali, sol. Håkan Hardenberger, 28.1.2016 London, UK

Five aspects of love The five movements depict various aspects of love which Martinsson has captured in intense romantic expressivity. He utilises the large string orchestra to the full extent and Lisa Larsson sang exquisitely with charisma and expression.

Norrköpings Tidningar 5.2.

Rolf Martinsson: Garden of Devotion

Norrköping SO/Michael Francis, soloist Lisa Larsson, soprano, 4.2.2016 Norrköping, Sweden

Photo: mats bäcker

LINDA ALEXANDERSSON Three Songs from the Dominican Breviary (2013) Dur: 7’

Masterly Pettersson recording The Norrköping Symphony Orchestra articulate the music’s ‘soaring melodies and grippingly searing polyphony… Lindberg seems to feel more keenly the work’s intense range of mood – the ferocity and depth of its emotion, the consolation that this engenders – and communicates this to his orchestra in a masterly fashion.

Gramophone January 2016 Allan Pettersson: Symphony No.13

CD: Norrköping SO/Christian Lindberg (BIS-2190)

It was music that could be felt throughout one’s whole body. In the tranquil middle movement the soloists were initially surrounded by soft waves in the strings and winds. In the solo parts it rippled gently until Bridger and Raab restored order in the finale and drove the music up to the boiling point in a furious display of virtuosity.

Helsingborgs Dagblad 9.11.

Tobias Broström: Theatron

Lily-Marlene Puusepp

Helsingborg SO/Stefan Solyom, sol. Johan Bridger, Patrick Raab, 5.11.2015 Helsingborg, Swedenf

Expressive harp The basic tone of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Harp Concerto is romantic but the mode of expression is surprisingly vigorous. The soloist has a chance to demonstrate the harp’s enormous expressive range, from ethereal arpeggios to fierce glissando effects.

Hufvudstadsbladet 1.2.

Einojuhani Rautavaara: Harp Concerto

Hakola’s crowd raiser Kari Kriikku gave a unique performance…The music incorporates many different styles from Jewish music to gypsy music and blues. The audience was given evidence that contemporary music is not difficult to appreciate...a delightful concert.

Chosun-ilbo 16.11.

The third movement had wild rhythms, which led to the Finale, the definite highlight, where Klezmer music takes over. The main melody here, in the harmonic or so-called gypsy minor, sounds infinitely beautiful. And the audience appreciated this work, which was also a crowd raiser: rarely can we see such overwhelming enthusiasm.

Stavanger Aftenblad 30.1.

Kimmo Hakola: Clarinet Concerto

Seoul PO/Osmo Vänskä, 13.11.2015 Seoul, South Korea Stavanger SO/Christian Vasquez, 28.1.2016 Stavanger, Norway, sol. Kari Kriikku

A microtonal escapade The CD is a hefty survey of electro-acoustic music.

Electronics expand an instrument or turn it into a super-instrument, unleashing caustic humour from the music, as in the poppy microtonal Boost by Juhani Nuorvala.

Rondo 2/2016 Juhani Nuorvala: Boost

CD: Defunensemble/Markus Hohti, cello, Emil Holmström, keyboard (SRCD-1014 8 “Define Function”)

Photo: Henna Salmela

Overwhelming Theatron

Mikko and Riitta Heiniö at Turku Cathedral

Sacral beauty in Heiniö concerto The catchy starting point for the Heiniö concerto is the Summer Hymn [Suvivirsi]…it makes pleasingly colourful use of the theme material, drawing on the vast range of timbres and volumes of both orchestra and organ. The concerto could be described as sunny and tranquil, beautiful in a sacral way. Rondo 3/2016 The Turku Philharmonic and Jan Lehtola placed Mikko Heiniö’s brand-new organ concerto on a pedestal. The dialogue between orchestra and organ was enjoyable in the Turku Cathedral acoustics… The music is bright, undulating, even thundering. Turun Sanomat 13.2.

Mikko Heiniö: Concerto for Organ and Orchestra

World premiere: Turku PO/Leif Segerstam, sol. Jan Lehtola, 11.2.2016 Turku, Finland

Versatile Kleemola Mikko Heiniö’s Through Green Glass is nothing short of a masterpiece. Kleemola’s versatility does justice to its wide palette of musical devices and influences.

However, instead of adopting different styles as such, Heiniö manages to capture the nature or “spirit” of them; as if his works were elaborations of the very bedrock of our musical understanding. FMQ 11/2015 Mikko Heiniö: Through Green Glass

CD: Patrik Kleemola, guitar (Pilfink JJVCVD-150)

Project orchestra/Sakari Oramo, sol. Lily-Marlene Puusepp, 30.1.2016 Helsinki, Finland (charity concert)

The Accordion King

Piano music has been a side-line interest for Aho, which for a violinist should not come as a surprise. But one should be wary of dismissing the pieces on this CD as occasional music, or as the insignificant juvenilia of a composer who was to become a famous symphonist; Aho’s capabilities (which were apparent very early on in his career) are no less evident in his piano music.

Klassik.com 31.1.

Kalevi Aho: Works for Solo Piano

CD: Sonja Fräki (BIS-2106)

Photo: Birger Karlsson

CD of Aho piano works

Fredrik Högberg has written a concertizing accordion part that demands a phenomenal technique and a clear musical form, and with soloist passages that Jörgen Sundeqvist executed masterfully…The music caresses itself onwards in wonderful lines, and in the next moment it bombards us with full-bodied rhythms, and overpowering and surprising sonorities.

Västerbottenskuriren 6.2.

Fredrik Högberg: The Accordion King

Norrlandsoperan SO/Elim Chan, soloist Jörgen Sundeqvist, 5.2.2016 Umeå, Sweden

Lush, haunting cantata by Kortekangas The concert begins with the world premiere of a lush, haunting cantata by contemporary Finnish composer Olli Kortekangas. “Migrations” commemorates the Finnish migration to North America, with painterly words by Northern Minnesota poet Sheila Packa, whose grandparents are Finnish. Minnpost 5.2.

A very intriguing piece. TwinCities.com 4.2.

Packa described her work as uplifting, and Kortekangas echoed that compositionally...he showed a deft ability to make use of the chorus as a percussive instrument and also made excellent use of the instrumental soloists; the horn solos and duets were particularly excellent, with their rich, silvery tone. stephcranford.tumblr.com Olli Kortekangas: Migrations

World premiere: Minnesota Orchestra, YL Male Voice Choir/Osmo Vänskä, sol. Lilli Paasikivi, 4.2. 2016 Minneapolis, USA

H ighlights

1/2016

new p u blic a ti o ns C H O R A L / V ocal ANNA CEDERBERG-ORRETEG

RICHARD FALTIN

Namnet Människa

JACOB MÜHLRAD

Solo Songs / Samlade solosånger / Kootut yksinlaulut

for mixed choir and recitation Text: The UN Prayer (Sw)

An’im Semiraus

for mixed choir a cappella (reduced version SSAATB) Adaption: Sofia Ågren Text: Old Jewish song (Hebrew)

German born Richard Faltin (1835–1918) was in his day a leading figure on the Finnish musical scene. This edition presents his complete song oeuvre including six songs now published for the first time.

GE 12884

MATTIAS EKSTRÖM KOIJ

Ave Maria

for female choir a cappella Text: in Latin

GE 12856

KARIN WESTBERG

FG 55011-266-7

GE 12891

I folkviseton

MARTIN LARSON

CHRISTIAN ENGQUIST

for mixed choir and solo voice arr: Emil Westberg Text: Nils Ferlin (Sw)

The Brightest Spring

Upon the Body of Our Blessed Lord, Naked and Bloody

GE 12874

GE 12882

I N S T R U M E N TA L / C H A M B E R

ORCHESTRAL

TUTORS

TOBIAS BROSTRÖM

LOUHOS, JURIS, LIU-TAWASTSTJERNA

for mixed choir a cappella Text: Richard Crashaw (Eng)

for mixed choir a cappella Text: Christian Engquist (Eng)

TIMO-JUHANI KYLLÖNEN

Two Romances

Theatron

FG 55011-276-6

GE 12661 (score) GE 12663 (study score) GE 12653 (score) GE 12655 (study score) Version for extended orchestra

GE 12883

for two percussion soloists and orchestra

for cello and piano Hermes

Toccata for two accordions FG 55011-275-9 (parts)

Pianon avain 2 / Piano Key 2 FG 55011-186-8 (revised edition)

EINAR ENGLUND

ROLF MARTINSSON

Symphony No. 4

Suite fantastique

FG 55011-278-0 (score)

music from Concert Fantastique for clarinet and piano

TOMMIE HAGLUND

Serenata per Diotima for string orchestra

GE 11977

PER THUNARF

GE 12686 (score) GE 12688 (study score)

Parafras på Jämtländsk brudmarsch (Paraphrase on Bridal March from Jämtland)

SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM

Concerto for Flute and Orchestra No. 2 GE 12673 (score) GE 12675 (study score)

for organ

GÉZA SZILVAY

Supplementary Material

ALBERT SCHNELZER

GE 12844

Appendix to the Colourstrings Violin ABC Book D

Magical Allusions for oboe and small orchestra

HARRI WESSMAN

Six Violin Pieces for Alisa Ojanen / Kuusi viulukappaletta Alisa Ojaselle

FG 55011-234-6

GE 12799 (score) GE 12801 (study score)

JEAN SIBELIUS

FG 55011-280-3

Six Humoresques for Violin and Orchestra opp. 87 & 89

MATTHEW WHITTALL

FG 55011-261-2 Score (Urtext edition)

Leaves of Grass

JONAS VALFRIDSSON

12 preludes for piano

Temples of Kamakura for orchestra

FG 55011-279-7

GE 12703 (score)

new cDs LARS KARLSSON

LARS-ERIK LARSSON

Jaguaren

Akademiska sångföreningen/Kari Turunen Fuga-9406 (”I Dreamt”)

MARTIN WEGELIUS

Symphony No. 2, Orchestral Variations op. 50, Barococo Suite

Sånger (Songs)

CPO 777 672-2 (Orchesterwerke Vol. II)

Fuga-9410

Helsingborg SO/Andrew Manze

Hedvig Paulig, soprano, Tuomas Lehtinen, baritone, Gustav Djupsjöbacka, piano, Spira Ensemble

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

H ighlights

3/2015

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