NO

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IC2/2013HIGHLIGHTS

N E W S L E T T E R F R O M G E H R M A N S M U S I K F Ö R L A G & F E N N I C A G E H R M A N

Daniel Börtz at 70

H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3

N E W SN

OR

DIC

HIGHLIGHTS 2/2013

NEWSLET TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN

Sound samples , video clips and other material are available at

www.gehrmans.se/highlights

Cover photos: A Dream Play in Weimar (Photo:

Matthias Horn), Daniel Börtz (Photo: Jurek Holzer/SVD/

Scanpix), Ben Affl eck and Rachel McAdams in Malick’s

fi lm To the Wonder (Photo: Filmikamari)

Editors: Henna Salmela and Kristina Fryklöf

Translations: Susan Sinisalo and Robert Carroll

Design: Tenhelp Oy/Tenho Järvinen

ISSN 2000-2742 (Print), ISSN 2000-2750 (Online)

Printed in Sweden by TMG Sthlm, Bromma 2013

Trio La Rue to play music

by NieminenWorks by Kai Nieminen can be heard at several

concerts this year, in addition to being recorded

on the Toccata Classics and Pilfi nk labels. Niemi-

nen is also the focus composer of the Sääksmäki

soi festival, at which Patrick Kleemola will give

the Finnish premiere of his guitar sonata A Walk

to the Mysterious Woods... and the Trio La Rue

will perform works by him on 3 July. Also in the

Trio’s repertoire is Nieminen’s Refl ecting Land-

scapes, to be heard at two of its concerts in

Italy – in Rome and Naples in October 2013.

New agreement with

Mihkel KeremFennica Gehrman has signed a publishing

agreement with Mihkel Kerem for 7 or-

chestral and 9 instrumental/chamber works.

Kerem (born in 1981 in Tallinn) studied the

violin and composition at the Royal College

of Music. He lives in London and is active as

a violinist, composer and arranger.

Mihkel Kerem has composed more than

100 works, including three symphonies, a

double cello concerto, nine string quartets,

three violin sonatas and two wind quintets.

He has had several concerts dedicated to his

music and has been the focus composer at

the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival and

the Aurora Chamber Music Festival. Kerem

is also the leader of the Brandenburg Sinfo-

nia and the section principal of the Camer-

ata Nordica. He also performs as a recitalist

and soloist. Toccata Classics has released two

CDs of Kerem’s compositions.

Cantus arcticus in new

Terrence Malick fi lmEinojuhani Rautavaara’s Cantus arcticus

features at a major turn in the plot

in the new Terrence Malick fi lm To the

Wonder. Th e third movement, Swans Mi-

grating, is played by the Royal Scottish

National Orchestra. Th e score of Mal-

ick’s fi lm is a veritable anthology of clas-

sical and modern music, making the fi lm

a breath-taking, rapturous musical and

visual experience.

Large choral commission

for HakolaTh e Chorus Sanctae Ceciliae (Ceciliakören) has

commissioned Kimmo Hakola to write a large-

scale choral work to celebrate its 60th anniversa-

ry in November 2013. One of the basic missions

of the choir founded by Harald Andersén has,

from the very beginning, been to commission

and perform new works. De kaspiska tigrarnas

Gud, the work commissioned from Hakola, is

based on texts by Stella Parland. About an hour

long, it will be premiered at the Helsinki Music

Centre on 22 November.

Nordic Music Days 2013Music by four of Gehrmans’ composers will be

performed during the Nordic Music Days in

Helsinki this October: Benjamin Staern’s sym-

phonic prelude Jubilate, Mirjam Tally’s Birds and

Shadows for violin and string orchestra, Jörgen

Dafgård’s Mahler Revisited for fl ute, violin, cel-

lo and piano, and Anders Eliasson’s Trio for

Marimba, Violin and Piano. Choral works by

Veli-Matti Puumala (Halkeama) and Olli Kor-

tekangas (De profundis) represent the Fennica

Gehrman catalogue in the NMD program.

Anders Eliasson (1947–2013)When Anders Eliasson died on 20 May, one

of the most personal voices in Swedish music

fell silent. He will be dearly missed.

Eliasson lived through his music and al-

ways went his own way, irrespective of trends

and traditions. He wrote more than 100

works: symphonies, oratorios, solo concertos

and chamber music, but emphasised that he

did not `compose´. He spoke of an “angel of

music” and saw himself as a receiver, as one

who sensitively listened in, wrote down and

conveyed. Yet one palpably feels Eliasson’s

strong presence in his music: the restless-

ness, the melancholy, the pain, the harshness,

the beauty and the warmth. An expressive-

ness that touches the depths of the souls.

Phot

o: S

aara

Vuo

rjoki

Ben

Affl e

ck a

nd R

ache

l McA

dam

s (Ph

oto:

Film

ikam

ari)

Phot

o: P

ål S

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kk

H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3

P R E M I E R E SNew commissions

Th e Trio ZPR has commissioned music from Tommie Haglund and Anders Eliasson for

the concert series “Finally Monday 2013-2014”. Eliasson’s string trio Ahnungen became his

very last work. It will be premiered in Stockholm on 10 February 2014.

Fredrik Högberg has been commissioned to write a Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra

for virtuoso Jörgen Sundeqvist and the Nordic Chamber Orchestra, to be premiered in

2014. Th e NCO has also commissioned a 10-minute concert-opener by Marie Samuelsson

for the 2015/16 season.

Orchestral version of Kari Tikka songsKari Tikka has made orchestral arrangements of his popular Five

Biblical Songs cycle. It also includes the work by him most often per-

formed: Song of Grace (Armolaulu). Th e Lohja City Orchestra pre-

miered three songs from the cycle last summer with Jyrki Anttila,

Hannu Jurmu and Aki Alamikkotervo as the soloists. Tikka is also

planning an orchestral version of his Seven Spiritual Songs.

Lindberg turns 80On 11 June composer and pianist Nils Lindberg

will celebrate his 80th birthday. During six dec-

ades he has composed and arranged music for big

bands, choirs, symphony orchestras and various

types of ensembles. He has refused to be cate-

gorised and has remained a border-transcending

personality in Swedish musical life. His musical

roots are to be found in Swedish folk music as

well as in jazz and art music, a golden trinity that

has become Lindberg’s successful hallmark. His

latest work is a commission for the Swedish Ra-

dio Choir, Om dagen vid mitt arbete, which was

premiered under the direction of Peter Dijkstra

on 18 May in Stockholm. Also read about Lind-

berg’s Requiem under repertoire tips.

Festival composers this summerTh e Lyckå Chamber Music Festival will present a portrait concert of

works by Rolf Martinsson on 4 July. Th e programme comprises the

world premiere of Till skuggan av en verklighet (To the Shadow of a Reali-

ty), for soprano and string quartet to texts by Karin Boye, Songs on Poems

by Emily Dickinson in a version for soprano and piano, Landscape for vio-

lin solo, Duo for violin and cello, and three piano pieces from Th e Zodiac.

Albert Schnelzer is Composer-in-Focus at the Östergötland Music

Days/Linköping Chamber Music Festival on 10–17 August. No less

than 12 of his works will be performed, among these the festival commis-

sion You Cried for the Moon for clarinet and piano, Requiem for soprano

and piano, Emperor Akbar for string orchestra and Azraeel Suite for sym-

phonic wind band.

Summer 2013

Rolf MartinssonTour de Force

Gothenburg SO/Nikolaj Znaider

15.5. Gothenburg, Sweden

Till skuggan av en verklighet

Lisa Larsson, soprano, Kreutzer Quartet

4.7. Karlskrona, Sweden (Lyckå Chamber Music Festival)

Nils LindbergOm dagen vid mitt arbete

Swedish Radio Choir/Peter Dijkstra

18.5. Stockholm, Sweden

Sven-David SandströmThree Pieces for Two Violins

Anders Lagerqvist, Per Öman

8.6. Borlänge, Sweden

Five Pieces for String Quintet

Uppsala Chamber Soloists

8.9. Uppsala, Sweden

Jyrki Linjama Suomalainen Stabat Mater (Finnish Stabat Mater)

Soli Deo Gloria/Juhani Lamminmäki, sol. Piia Komsi, soprano,

Ulla Raiskio, alto, Ritva Koistinen, kantele

29.6. Kokkola, Finland

Das Licht der fl ießenden Gottheit (Jumaluuden virtaava valo)

Essi Luttinen, mezzo-soprano, Ilmo Ranta, piano

9.7. Kemiö, Finland (Kemiö Music Festival)

Kai NieminenRitorno... ( delle città invisibili)

Jyväskylä University SO/Huba Holloköi

24.8 Jyväskylä, Finland

Kalevi AhoEAREGBERG for 4 cellos, ERA for 4 cellos

Martti Rousi etc.

5.7. Sysmä, Finland (Sysmä Summer Sounds)

Albert SchnelzerYou Cried for the Moon

Staff an Mårtensson, clarinet, Love Derwinger, piano

14.8. Linköping, Sweden (Östergötland Music Days) 

Daniel BörtzSpeglande Medea (Refl ecting Medea)

Michala Petri, recorder

30.8. Suså, Denmark (Suså Festival)

Rolf Martinsson

Phot

o: M

ats B

äcke

r

Albert Schnelzer

Phot

o: H

ans L

indé

n

Martinsson residency in

AmsterdamRolf Martinsson will be Composer-in-Residence

with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra/

Netherlands Chamber Orchestra at the Concert-

gebouw in Amsterdam during the 2014/2015

season. His residency will feature a sequence of

Dutch premieres ranging from orchestral works

to chamber pieces, such as the concert opener

Open Mind and A. S. in Memoriam for strings.

Th e Netherlands PO also co-commissioned

New Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, featuring

Lisa Larsson.

Trio

ZPR

(Pho

to: G

oldb

erg)

Pasi Lyytikäinen1.Th e Kuopio Symphony Orchestra commis-

sioned a symphony from you and premiered it

in 2008. Could you describe the composition

process – before that, you had mostly written

chamber music and works for the stage.

Th e idea of composing a symphony came to me

very early on. I did the fi rst sketches for it when

I was about twenty. But when I began compos-

ing it again ten years later, I did not return to

these sketches and instead planned the musical

material on a diff erent footing. Th e main reason

was that while I was composing chamber music,

I had acquired masses of ideas for an orchestra.

Th en again, I had concentrated a lot on vocal

music, so there was strong pressure to compose

an orchestral work.

2. You have composed chamber music for very

diff erent line-ups, and also solo works. Can

you tell us more about these?

Par for piano four hands won the Tong Piano

Duet chamber music competition in London

and it was premiered in Tokyo in autumn 2002.

I wrote it as a sort of triumphant shout and

aimed at boisterous, light and action-packed

expression. Coma for solo piano, premiered in

Berlin, combines methodical German harmony

thinking with the impressionistic ethereality of

French expression.

I’ve also had the fortune to receive a wide

range of chamber music commissions. Th e most

important of these are, for me, the trio Zephyr

and the string quartet La Spada del sole. And

there is also the solo accordion suite Vuo.

3. Th ough your own instrument is the fl ute,

you haven’t written all that much fl ute music,

even though your list of works does include

some for winds; such as Necto, premiered by

the Guards Band in 2010. Is there any special

reason for this?

Th is may sound odd, but I hardly write any-

thing for the fl ute precisely because it’s my own

instrument. I do, it’s true, dream of doing a fl ute

concerto sometime, but that project can wait for

another few years. But I have written a big suite

for solo recorder, Minimalto.

4. Th e chamber opera To Helsinki is consid-

ered your breakthrough work. Tell us a bit

about it.

It marked the culmination of the musical think-

ing of my youthful years. In 1997, after I had

moved to Helsinki to study composition, I hap-

pened to come across Juhani Aho’s novella To

Helsinki. Th e book is about a young student and

the fi rst time he travels far from home. It’s os-

tensibly a genial story about a journey, but under

the surface is a powerful tale about how a person

changes, and under the infl uence of the people

around him.

5. And what about the Seven Songs for soprano

and orchestra, settings of poems by Saila Susi-

luoto, which you composed after completing

the opera?

Th e Seven Songs were, apart from the solo accor-

dion suite Vuo, the fi rst work in which I started

to seek out musical avenues I hadn’t already ex-

plored. Whereas the expression in my chamber

opera relies on spiky tragicomedy, the orchestral

songs are clearly lyrical and serious. I’m still real-

ly pleased with the orchestra of the Seven Songs.

Th rough it I found a lot of new expression, both

vocal and orchestral. I later did a version of the

cycle for soprano and piano at singers’ request.

6. Last November you were a guest composer

at the Moscow Autumn festival. Th is spring

you’ve been a tutor on the Very Young Com-

posers project.

Some of my chamber music was played at the

Moscow Autumn festival, and my new Chamber

H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3

questions forVocalise for soprano and chamber ensemble was

also premiered there. Music by me was also per-

formed by the GamEnsemble on its Russian tour.

I went along, too, lecturing about my music at the

Glinka Conservatory. Th e festival also brought

me lots more performances both for Russia and

elsewhere in Europe. Th e virtuoso accordionist

Sergej Tchirkov, for example, has performed Vuo

this spring in Venice, Poland and elsewhere.

Working as a tutor on the Very Young Com-

posers project with composer Minna Leino nen

was a pleasure and broadened my mind. Th e

concept of the project developed by Jon Deak is

quite unique. In it, youngsters composed while

vocational music students converted their ideas

into musical notation – as authentically as possi-

ble. Th e new works were premiered by a chamber

ensemble of players from the Finnish Radio Sym-

phony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic and

the Finnish National Opera. Added to which, the

youngsters did animations and sculptures.

7. What are you working on right now and

what sorts of inspiring works do you expect to

do in the future?

I’ve just fi nished a new work in the Everyday

Opera series. Over the summer I’m going to

compose a virtuoso accordion work for Mika

Väyrynen. Sometime in the near future I also

intend to complete my doctoral studies at the

Sibelius Academy. I’ve got a fi ne opportunity to

take part in this doctoral programme in which

eight artists from diff erent fi elds will be working

on their degrees and at the same time developing

methods for artistic research.

My aim is to amass as wide a range of re-

sources as possible for my career as a composer.

Working with diff erent arts has been fantastic,

especially as regards my works for the stage. It’s

been interesting to note that the majority of the

questions about making art are the same regard-

less of genre.

Henna Salmela

Pasi Lyytikäinen (b. 1975) studied compo-

sition at the Sibelius Academy and in mas-

terclasses with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Tristan

Murail, Kaija Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg

and others. His interests as a composer are

wide-spread: solo, chamber, orchestral and vocal

music, and opera. As a composer he has been

described as a lyrical modernist. His music is

characterised by compact, often softly dissonant

harmony, the idea of varying motifs and a clas-

sical, polyphonic mode of writing. Some of his

most recent works also have theatrical elements.

Phot

o: Jo

hann

a Ok

sane

n-Ly

ytik

äine

n

H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3

We meet at a café in Stockholm, just a stone’s

throw from the Royal Opera. It was here that he

in 1991 had his famous breakthrough with Back-

anterna (Th e Bacchae) in a production by Ing-

mar Bergman, and this is where he will return

with a new opera. After the complex of problems

relating to honour killing in Svall (Surge, 2006)

and the conditions of the artist in Goya (2009),

it is now time for another drama from classical

antiquity: Euripides’ Medea.

Producer, conductor, singers and the premiere

date are still hush-hush – the production lies

a couple of seasons ahead – but the fi rst act of

the opera is fi nished. He had been toying with

the subject for quite a while, but it was not until

Daniel Börtz had read the play in a more recent

Swedish translation that he found inspiration.

– Medea had been in the back of my mind

for years, ever since Th e Bacchae. It was the

kind of drama that I really wanted to take on at

some point in time. And then when I reread it

– and above all came to read the newly revised

translation by Jan Stolpe and Agneta Pleijel –

everything fell into place.

He has undertaken to do the libretto this time

and made quite a few cuts and rearrangements

in the text – with the consent of Jan Stolpe and

Agneta Pleijel, of course. About once every six

months he meets with them both to get the go-

ahead for his adaptation:

– Th en we read and I draw and tell and talk

about what I am thinking. I have made quite a

lot of changes above all to what happens in the

chorus, but so far they haven’t berated me, Dan-

iel Börtz points out. He adds that he has a great

time relating to this sounding board and not be-

ing entirely alone.

What captivated him the most from the be-

ginning, and what has become the fundamental

theme, was Medea’s situation as a fugitive. How a

human being can end up in such a desperate sit-

uation that she totally loses her foothold. About

the same time that he started on the work, a

tragic event occurred in a nearby town: a woman

drowned her two children. Daniel Börtz doubts

whether one can draw any sweeping or direct par-

allels, but nevertheless fi nds certain similarities:

– You can’t really make any comparisons, this

is of course a play that was written four-hun-

dred years before Christ, but humans have not

changed essentially throughout that time. What

it deals with is basically this: humans can be

stressed to a point where they lose all good judg-

ment, says Daniel Börtz.

He describes the music as a stylistic continu-

ation of how he composed Goya, a great deal of

interplay between tonality and atonality, and all

the nuances in between. In the role of the wet

nurse one can also fi nd certain similarities to

Cassandra in the oratorio His Name Was Orest-

es. In Euripides the nurse’s role is restricted to

the beginning of the play, but Börtz has expand-

ed her part. Like Cassandra’s, it is written for a

warm contralto.

– I individualise the chorus; I have them as

a female mass, but I individualise often so that

they become soloist roles. And the nurse, she is

in some way a participant in this, she becomes

that Cassandra type – the one who suff ers, who

feels compassion.

As usual – one is tempted to say – when Daniel

Börtz is working on an opera there is likely to be a

musical spillover. In connection with Th e Bacchae

came Kithairon for oboe, Goya’s Face was a digres-

sion from Goya, and at the Danish Suså Festival

this August there will be a premiere performance

of Refl ecting Medea, fi ve short solo pieces written

for the recorder virtuoso Michala Petri.

– It is a kind of characterisation of Medea, you

might say, but there is also a concrete sequence of

intervals that is important in the opera.

But for the whole opera Medea we will have

to wait a while longer. Daniel Börtz’s twelfth sym-

phony, however, can be heard at a much earlier

date: it will be premiered by the Swedish Ra-

dio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dan-

iel Blendulf on 15 February 2014. Th e score is

ready and lies in the windowsill beside our table.

We page through it and discuss motoric drive, a

suddenly emerging dream sequence, gongs and

glockenspiel sonorities, and an ending in a C

major that bursts into pieces. But when we talk

about how the work starts out, it is once again

a concrete little musical element that proves to

be central.

– It has one of those building stones, an irri-

tating detail that calls for me to “do something

with this”, and it is the very fi rst chords B minor

and G minor. When you start toying with those

two chords you discover a great many possibil-

ities that open up. I can’t stop doing this, that’s

just the way it is, says Börtz.

It is now forty years since his fi rst sympho-

ny was given its premiere in Gothenburg – the

compact building blocks of the 1970s have long

since been replaced by a form that is leaner –

and No. 12 is the fi rst symphony for full sym-

phony orchestra in twenty years, consisting of

four movements and with a duration of approx-

imately forty minutes. Th ere is even room for a

baritone soloist in the slow movement, in which

Börtz has set a poem by Kjell Espmark. And al-

though the orchestra is large, the symphony has

an aura of chamber music about it.

– Indeed, I like to have a palette with a wealth

of colours, to be able to play around and work

with it. Th en at times there won’t be so many

tones in certain instruments, but where they do

come in, they are immensely important. Some-

times it is very useful to force oneself not to have

so many possibilities, simply to be able to sharp-

en one’s pencil and one’s wits, says Daniel Börtz.

Sara Norling

Daniel Börtz turns 70 in August, but he has hardly slowed his pace. He will

soon be in the limelight with two new large-scale works – his twelfth sympho-

ny and his sixth opera Medea.

Daniel Börtz at 70

Phot

o: Ju

rek

Holz

er/S

VD/S

canp

ix

H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3

ANDERS ELIASSON Dante Anarca (1998) Dur: 80’ soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, mixed chorus

and orchestra: 3344-4331-14-2hp-str

Text: Giacomo Oreglia

(Dante Anarca e i suoi sei maesteri, Ita)

Eliasson keeps up the tension and energy

throughout this seven-movement apocalyptic oratorio. The music

moves between the wildly furious, the intensely expressive and the

tenderly beautiful, and leads to a radiant fi nal movement where Dante

is depicted as the liberator, the sharpest arrow against evil, fraud, do-

minion and mammon. He is “the beating heart of our future”.

KIMMO HAKOLASong of Songs (2006) Dur: 50’solo baritone, vocal ensemble, mixed chorus and

orchestra: 2222-2200-01-hp-pf+cel-str

Text: Bible (Eng)

Song of Songs is a large-scale, radiant orato-

rio incorporating the whole of the Old Testa-

ment Song of Songs in English. Harmony, beauty and lyricism are basic

ingredients of Hakola’s music. The very text is, he says, itself like music,

and packed with symbolism. It is also an erotic song of praise to love.

OLLI KORTEKANGASSeven Songs for Planet Earth (2011)

Dur: 40’mezzo-soprano and baritone, mixed chorus,

children’s chorus and orchestra:

2222-2221-12-hp-str

Text: Wendell Berry, St Francis of Assisi etc. (Eng)

This is a sweeping, ecological work, a refl ection on nature and its fra-

gility. The heart of it is the poetry of Wendell Berry, a US poet, farmer

and academic. One of the major repeated motifs is the beautiful idea

of expanding circles. Included are also some primitive elements such

as yoiking, a tradition of the Sámi people in Finland.

TIMOJUHANI KYLLÖNENMissa Festiva (2008) Dur: 31’ soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, organ and

chamber orchestra: 0000-0000-12-str

Text: Mass (Lat)

Kyllönen’s Mass is, despite its modernism,

highly melodic, and precisely because of

its beauty and melody easily accessible to the public at large. The or-

gan’s role is to be part of the orchestra, as if to replace the missing

wind instruments. The Mass has a clear dramatic charge from the very

beginning. It also has zest, a dance-like quality and echoes of Lat-

in-American rhythms.

LARSERIK LARSSON Förklädd gud/A God Disguised

(1940) Dur: 30’reciter, soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and

orchestra, original version: 2222-2210-10-hp-

str, reduced version: 1111-2100-10-pf-str, sym-

phonic wind band: 1141-2331-12-double bass

Text: Hjalmar Gullberg (Sw/Eng/Ger)

A lyrical suite in which recitation alternates with musical episodes.

The text is based on the Greek myth about Apollo, who visits the earth

disguised as a shepherd playing the fl ute. The basic mood of the work

is bright, optimistic and almost pastoral, and the romantic tone lan-

guage is simple and straightforward. A God Disguised has become a

staple of Swedish choral repertoire.

Homage to vocal beautyOne is impressed by the marvellous overtones that

Sandström can elicit from the choir…Choir, per-

cussion, organ, soloists and brass together form a

glimmering majesty around the text of the Catho-

lic Requiem…In the penultimate movement, “Lux

aeterna”, Rombo and Dragojevic sing a duet so

lovely that one’s thoughts inevitably go to the clas-

sic gem “Flower Duet” from Delibes’ opera “Lakmé”.

Expressen 24.3.

Sven-David Sandström: Requiem

World premiere: Swedish RSO & Swedish Radio Choir/Gustaf Sjökvist,

sol. Elin Rombo, Katija Dragojevic, Olle Persson, Matthew Rose,

23.3.2013 Stockholm, Sweden

Pungent for saxophoneTuomela’s idiom is at times pungent, at times even

very lyrically beautiful. Saxophone virtuoso Joona-

tan Rautoila was able to demonstrate his skills in a

variety of ways in dialogue with the orchestra’s dif-

ferent instruments. Karjalainen 13.4.

Tapio Tuomela: Swap, Concerto for Saxophone

and Sinfonietta

World premiere: Joensuu CO/Sasha Mäkilä, sol. Joonatan Rautoila

13.4.2013 Joensuu, Finland

NILS LINDBERG Requiem (1993) Dur: 45’2 sopranos, baritone, mixed chorus and enlarged

big band: 2000-2440-12-5sax-pf-double bass

Text: Requiem (Lat)

Lindberg combines jazz with Swedish folk

music and Gregorian harmonies to create a

dark, brooding and gripping Requiem. Expressive vocal parts, including

characteristic ancient folk song ornaments, and choral movements in

“Gregorian Dalecarlian style” are framed by the mighty and periodically

hard swinging big band.

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARAOn the Last Frontier (1998) Dur: 24’mixed chorus and orchestra:

3233-4331-12-hp-str

Text: Rautavaara after Edgar Allan Poe (Eng)

Rautavaara’s fantasy opens with a sumptu-

ous, mysterious orchestral section. Beauti-

ful, shining fl ute and oboe solos against a choral background alternate

with a sea of orchestral sound in stormy majesty. The poem by Edgar

Allan Poe made an indelible impression on Rautavaara while he was

still a lad, and through the text the choir transports the listener on a

mysterious voyage towards the limits of the unknown.

HILDING ROSENBERG The Revelation of St. John –

Symphony No. 4 (1940) Dur: 75’baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra:

2222-4431-22-hp-pf-cel-str

Text: Bible/Chorales to texts by Hjalmar Gullberg

(Sw/Eng)

This is a fl aming protest against violence and war. It is also music with

long lines and sharp contrasts between dynamic, forceful oratorio

blocks, ethereal a cappella choruses, and expressionistically sugges-

tive recitatives for baritone and brass. The development goes from

horror towards light and hope of “a new heaven and a new earth”.

SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖM Magnifi cat (2005) Dur: 20’SATB soli, mixed chorus and chamber orchestra:

2fl -3trpt-timp-org/hpd-str

Text: Magnifi cat (Lat)

Sandström’s jubilant Magnifi cat corresponds

to Bach’s original in many ways in respect

to the outer form and instrumentation. The work opens in genuine

baroque manner with timpani and trumpets and a rhythmical and

joyful choral texture. The tone language is diatonic or triadic almost

throughout. But also infl uences from early church music, Gregorian

chant and imitative counterpoint can be found.

JEAN SIBELIUSOma Maa (My Own Land)

(1918) Dur: 11’mixed choir and orchestra: 2222-4230-11-str

Text: Kallio (Fin/Swe)

Maan virsi (Hymn to the Earth)

(1920) Dur: 10’mixed choir and orchestra: 2222-4230-11-str

Text: Eino Leino (Fin/Swe/Eng/Ger)

These cantata gems have been overshadowed by the maestro’s other

works. Despite their patriotic tone they serve as exciting portals to his

symphonic world. Oma maa is a sort of hymn to the nightless northern

night and towards the end achieves almost sacral rapture – a piece that

has been hailed by several Sibelius scholars. Maan virsi is a deep-hued,

lyrical song in praise of nature, with charming orchestral sections.

REPER TOIRE T IPS Choral works with orchestra R E V I E W S

Katija Dragojevic and Elin Rombo

Phot

o: A

rne

Hyck

enbe

rg

Joonatan Rautoila

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eikk

i Tuu

li

H I G H L I G H T S 2 / 2 0 1 3

Inspiring Dream Play in WeimarLidholm’s sensual, undogmatic and continually

surprising musical language creates a kaleido-

scope of impressions of human life…The big a

cappella choral movements are spectacular…

Gesellschaft Freunde der Künste 30.4.

The dialectic is captured brilliantly in Ingvar Lid-

holm´s music…He plays with stylistic devices

such as plainchant, waltzes and polkas, which

he mixes together in his exquisite modern tone

language.

Thüringische Landeszeitung 22.4.

The big choir both acts and sings splendidly…In

Lidholm’s music the world may collapse, some-

times with a scornful laugh, sometimes with

sensitivity and sorrow, but it can also occur with

lightning and thunder. And Staatskapelle Wei-

mar, with conductor Stefan Solyom, performs

with all the colours and nuances.

Die Deutsche Bühne 21.4.

Director Christian Sedelmayer has got magic

hands when it comes to staging the tragic. An-

other brilliant success… Thüringer Allgemeine 22.4.

Ingvar Lidholm: A Dream Play

Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar/Stefan

Solyom, 20.4.2013 Weimar, Germany

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o: M

atth

ias H

orn

New Hakola operaHynninen brims with vigour and passion in Kim-

mo Hakola’s monologue opera Akseli…Hakola

continues his recent melodic line in this opera.

The music has its origins in National Romanticism

but Hakola is also skilled at modern distancing.

The melodic ecstasy is often dreamily melan-

choly… Helsingin Sanomat 2.3.

Kaleidoscope – a metaphor that aptly applies to

the constantly changing characters in Hakola’s

music. At best, it provided beautiful vocal melo-

dies gratifying for the soloist and mighty, throb-

bing instrumental writing… Hufvudstadbladet 5.3.

Kimmo Hakola: Akseli, monologue opera

World premiere: Avanti!/Ville Matvejeff , sol. Jorma Hynninen,

28.2.2013 Helsinki, Finland

Dafgård – Composer of Spring This evening’s opening piece Volo for string orchestra

was characterised by rhythmical fi gures in a lively

dance, excellently captured in fl ight over both strings

and life’s rushing treadmill. Dagens Nyheter 17.2.

Jörgen Dafgård: Volo

Swedish Radio SO/Jukka-Pekka Saraste, 15.2.2013 Stockholm, Sweden

Nature’s mystique presents itself immediately in

Dafgård’s music. But also the pumping rhythms. The

clarinet concerto opens with a heavily loaded artillery

salvo from the brass… then the piece glides into a fog

of strings and a dreamlike state that is lifted by the

third movement’s triplet fi gures and tempo chang-

es… Dagens Nyheter 6.5.

Jörgen Dafgård: Clarinet Concerto

World premiere: Swedish Radio SO/Christian Eggen, 4.5.2013 Stock-

holm, Sweden

Poesis in San FranciscoPoesis emerged as a vibrant and often gripping dis-

play of orchestral virtuosity...The piece off ers both

vigor and surprise, and the orchestra delivered it

beautifully. San Francisco Chronicle 13.4.

Ingvar Lidholm: Poesis

US premiere: San Francisco SO/Herbert Blomstedt,

11.4.2013 San Francisco, USA

Intimate expression The premiere aff orded something quite special and

distinctive. Tear is characterised by intimate expres-

sion that speaks to the listener. The bittersweet mood

culminates in a sound all of its own at around the mid-

dle: modal jazz mixed with sighing and scratching.

Hufvudstadsbladet 4.3.

Veli-Matti Puumala: Tear

World premiere: Tapiola Sinfonietta/Hannu Lintu, 1.3.2013 Espoo,

Finland

Aho’s enchanting GejiaThe super-evocative percussion parts indicated at

the very outset that something very special was hap-

pening. Aho had sought his melodic building blocks

among the traditions of the Gejia, a minority people

in Southern China, and used them in a most sophis-

ticated way so that the whole almost, but not quite

gave an “authentic” impression. Hufvudstadsbladet 14.4.

Kalevi Aho: Gejia

Finnish premiere: Lahti SO/Dima Slobodeniouk, 11.4.2013 Lahti, Finland

Attractive oboe-CDOf the many concertos that Aho has written, the

Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra is one of the most

attractive and innovative…The oboe concerto in par-

ticular is a lovely piece which grows in stature with

each hearing. theclassicalreviewer.blogspot.co.uk

Kalevi Aho: Works for the Oboe

(Oboe Concerto, Solo IX, Sonata for Oboe and Piano)

CD: Lahti SO/Martyn Brabbins, sol. Piet Van Bockstal, Yutaka Oya, piano

(BIS-SCD 1876)

Stefan Solyom in Gothenburg (from video clip)

Veli-Matti Veli-Matti PuumalaPuumala

Magnifi cent Heiniö sound in spaceThe blaring French horns and rumbling trombones

were placed on the platform, likewise the celesta, the

jazzy trumpets above them…The eff ect of this sound

in space was magnifi cent. Helsingin Sanomat 26.4.

Mikko Heiniö: Sonata da chiesa

Finnish RSO/Arvo Volmer, 24.4.2013 Helsinki, Finland

Powerful Vanitas premiereLinjama’s Vanitas for choir is a powerful sermon…

Debussy inspired the diaphanous nature scenes and

heavenly visions. Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem

hovers in the background. Linjama handles his big

mixed choir with assurance and variety.

Helsingin Sanomat 26.4.

Jyrki Linjama: Vanitas

World premiere: Finnish RSO & Dominante, Murtosointu choirs/Arvo

Volmer, 24.4. 2013 Helsinki, Finland

Freak out! The instrumentation underlined and elucidated the

content of the music, often with a sense of humour.

In addition, there was an easily accessible rhythmic

structure that held out its hand to the listener.

Göteborgsposten 23.2.

Syncopations come reeling like skeletons in a

steady wind; absurd whirlwinds spring up from

bands of fog; frightening rumblings turn unexpect-

edly into the purest major…Indeed, who doesn’t

want to freak out in Burbank? Gävle Dagblad 29.4.

Albert Schnelzer: A Freak in Burbank

Gothenburg SO/Stefan Solyom, 21.2.2013 Gothenburg, Sweden

Gävle SO/Jaime Martin, 26.4.2013 Gävle, Sweden

Phot

o: S

aara

Vuo

rjoki

Jorma Hynninen

Phot

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inni

sh N

atio

nal G

alle

ry/E

rica

Othm

an

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

DANIEL BÖRTZTräsnitt/Woodcut

for solo percussionGE 10599

JÖRGEN DAFGÅRDMahler Revisited

for fl ute, violin, cello and pianoGE 12322 (score and parts)

NILS LINDBERGVaggvisa/Lullaby

for violin and pianoGE 12244

Polska with All My Love

for violin and pianoGE 12245

HANNU POHJANNOROtowards the orbit of the moon /

kuun kiertoa kohti

for guitarFG 55011-138-7

SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖMDance I

for percussion quintetGE 12266

The Last Fight

for percussion soloGE 12267

Four Pieces for String TrioGE 12192 (score and parts)

ALBERT SCHNELZERCon Forza

for brass quintetGE 12319 (score and parts)

ULRIKA EMANUELSSON Väktarsång från Lund (Nightwatcher’s Song)

for female choir a cappella

Text: Traditional nightwatcher’s calls (Swe)GE 12239

SVEN HAGVIL Orpheus with his Lute

for mixed choir a cappella

Text: William Shakespeare (Eng)GE 12248

BO HANSSON Then I Heard the Singing

for mixed choir a cappella

Text: St. Bridget of Sweden (Eng)GE 12124 

HANNU POHJANNOROValkoinen huone, Three Songs to

Texts by Johanna Venho

for voice and pianoFG 55011-144-8 (high version),

55011-145-5 (low version)

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARAAve Maria, gratia plena

for mixed choir a cappella

Text: Latin

First edition of Rautavaara’s popular

male choir work in a version for SATB choir.FG 55011-147-9

KARIN REHNQVIST Teile dich Nacht

for mixed choir a cappella

Text: Nelly Sachs (Ger)GE 11834

 

JAN SANDSTRÖM Vuojnha biegga (Wind of the Spirit)

for male choir a cappella

Text: Johan Märak (Samic) GE 10277

 

N E W C D s

ORCHESTRAL

PAAVO HEININENAutrefois - Concerto for Flute and OrchestraFG 55011-131-8 (piano reduction)

FREDRIK HÖGBERGSilent Purpose

Concerto for clarinet, string orchestra and audio trackGE 11204 (score), GE 11205 (solo part)

ALLAN PETTERSSONConcerto for String Orchestra No. 2GE 11981 (score)

SVENDAVID SANDSTRÖMA Desolate Wind - A Flighty Moment

Concerto for clarinet and orchestraGE 10929 (score), GE 10930 (solo part)

Five Fantasy Pieces

for chamber ensembleGE 12118 (score)

LILLEBROR SÖDERLUNDHTre folkliga valser/Three Popular WaltzesNMS 4962 (score)

MIRJAM TALLYDensity

for symphony orchestraGE 12234 (score)

JONAS VALFRIDSSONThe Only Thing that You Keep

Changing is Your NameGE 12260 (score)

ANDERS ELIASSONEin schneller Blick…ein kurzes Aufscheinen,

Poem for Alto Saxophone and Piano,

Symphony No. 3 for Alto Saxophone

and Orchestra ‘Sinfonia Concertante’

Arcos Orchestra/John-Edward Kelly,

Finnish Radio SO/Leif Segerstam,

John-Edward Kelly, alto saxophone, Bob Versteegh, pianoNEOS 11301

KIMMO HAKOLAGuitar Concerto

Oulu SO/Santtu-Matias Rouvali,

sol. Timo KorhonenOndine ODE 1219-2

PAAVO HEININENAutrefois (Flute Concerto)

Saimaa Sinfonietta/Tibor Bogányi,

sol. Mikael HelasvuoAlba ABCD 350

MIHKEL KEREMSymphony No. 3, Lamento,

Sextet for Strings

Estonian National SO, Tallinn ChO,

Tallinn Ensemble/Mikk MurdveeToccata Classics TOCC0173

AARRE MERIKANTOEkho, Symphony No. 2

Turku PO/Petri Sakari,

sol. Anu Komsi, sopranoAlba ABCD 351

CHORAL & VOCALCHAMBER & INSTRUMENTAL

Gehrmans Musikförlag AB

Box 42026, SE-126 12 Stockholm, Sweden

Tel. +46 8 610 06 00 • Fax +46 8 610 06 27

www.gehrmans.se • info@gehrmans.se

Hire: hire@gehrmans.se

Web shop: www.gehrmans.se

Sales: sales@gehrmans.se

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)

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

JOHAN BODIN ERIKSSONPandora’s Box

Three pieces for fl exible percussion

ensemble that can be played on

practically any percussion instrument:

drums, oil drums, steel tubes, cans –

shortly, on anything on which you could

beat a rhythm – by almost any number

of players: 4, 8, 12 etc. Each part can thus

advantageously be played by several

percussionists.1. Steel , GE 12301, 2. In Chains, GE 12302,

3. Twine, GE 12303

Jörgen Dafgård

Mahler Revisited

P A R T I T U R / S C O R E

o track

i

Woodcut

for solo percussion

Daniel Börtz

he Spirit)

Teile dich Nacht Mixed choir

Allan Pettersson

CONCERTO No. 2for String Orchestra

(1956)

Score

O

Polska WithAll My Love

for violin and piano

(or instrument in B and piano)

Nils Lindberg

Four Pieces for String Trio

P A R T I T U R / S C O R E

Sven-David Sandström

Vuojnha Biegga

Manskör/Male choir a cappella

Andens vind/Wind of the Spirit

Orpheus with his lute

Blandad kör/Mixed choir a cappella

Tre folkliga valserför stråkorkester

P A R T I T U R / S C O R E

Lille Bror Söderlundh

Jonas Valfridsson

The Only Thing That You

Keep Changing Is Your Name

for orchestra

P A R T I T U R / S C O R E

K

Densityfor symphony orchestra

P A R T I T U R / S C O R E

Mirjam Tally