HIGHLIGHTS NORDIC 4/2018 NEWSLETTER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN Focus on Marie Samuelsson Armas Järnefelt – an all-round Romantic NEWS Joonas Kokkonen centenary 2021 Mats Larsson Gothe awarded Th e major Christ Johnson Prize has been awarded to Th e year 2021 will mark the centenary of the Mats Larsson Gothe for his …de Blanche et Marie…– Jesper Lindgren Photo: birth of Joonas Kokkonen. More and more Symphony No. 3. Th e jury’s motivation is as follows: music by him has been fi nding its way back into ”With a personal musical language, an unerring feeling concert programmes in the past few years, and for form, brilliant orchestration and an impressive craft his opera Viimeiset kiusaukset (Th e Last Temp- of composition, Larsson Gothe passes on with a sure tations) is still one of the Finnish operas hand the great symphonic tradition of our time.” Th e most often performed. Fennica Gehrman has symphony is based on motifs from his acclaimed published a new version of the impressive Requi- opera Blanche and Marie and was premiered by em he composed in 1981 in memory of his wife. the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic during their Th e arrangement by Jouko Linjama is for organ, Composer Weekend Festival 2016. mixed choir and soloists. Th e Cello Concerto has also found an established place in the rep- ertoire; it was heard most recently in the Finals Söderqvist at the Nobel Prize of the International Paulo Cello Competition in Concert October 2018. Ann-Sofi Söder- Photo: Maarit Kytöharju Photo: qvist’s Movements Photo: Pelle Piano Pelle Photo: opens this year’s Finland Vuorjoki/Music Saara Photo: Nobel Prize Con- cert in Stockholm on 9 December. Th is is music about movements Whittall and Heininen in our time: ref- ugees on the run commissions Matthew Whittall has been commissioned to and people’s vul- Ann-Sofi Söderqvist nerability. Kari- write the obligatory piece for the Banff Inter- na Cannelakis conducts the Royal Stockholm national String Quartet Competition in August Philharmonic. Söderqvist has also attracted 2019. Another work to be premiered next year is Tommie Haglund festival attention during Gehrmans’ 125th anniversary the commission from Musica Nova Helsinki for A three-day Tommie Haglund festival took for her choral work What Is Life? , which was the Crash Ensemble. It will be on the festival’s place on 19-21 October in Halmstad. Fifteen part of the project #swedishchoralmusic, and as programme on 2 February, in Helsinki. of his chamber and orchestral works were per- composer of Gehrmans’ jubilee work, City Life Paavo Heininen is composing a piece for vi- formed by top musicians from the USA, Eng- for orchestra, a companion piece to Lars-Erik olin and orchestra as a commission from the St. land, Denmark and Sweden, e.g. Jakob Kullberg Larsson’s Pastoral Suite (premiered by O/Mod- Michel Strings. Th ere will be two performances: as soloist in the cello concerto Flaminis Aura ernt Soloists and New Generation on 11 No- on 23 May in Mikkeli and 24 May in Helsinki. and Ilya Kaler as soloist in the violin concerto vember). Th e soloist will be Kaija Saarikettu. Hymnen an die Nacht. Th e Helsingborg Sym- phony Orchestra performed under the direction of Joachim Gustafsson. (See: Reviews) Kalevi Aho at 70 Kalevi Aho will be 70 on 9 March 2019. Th ere will be no Photo: Romain Etienne Photo: fewer than 12 premieres during 2019, starting with the Con- HIGHLIGHTS certo for Two Bassoons composed on the initiative of Bram NORDIC 4/2018 van Sambeek, himself a bassoonist. Th is will be at a concert NEWSLETTER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra on 18 January, and Sound samples , video clips will be followed the next day by Kirje tuolle puolen (A and other material are available at Letter to the Netherworld) for string orchestra commis- www.gehrmans.se/highlights sioned by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra. On 11 May, the Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano will receive its world premiere by the Cover photo: Marie Samuelsson (Josef Doukkali) Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and the Storioni Editors: Henna Salmela and Kristina Fryklöf Trio, and the previous day the Lapland Chamber Translations: Susan Sinisalo and Robert Carroll Orchestra and Ismo Eskelinen will perform his new Design: Tenhelp Oy/Tenho Järvinen Guitar Concerto. Th e Lahti Symphony will also celebrate ISSN 2000-2742 (Print), ISSN 2000-2750 (Online) Aho by premiering his 17th Symphony on 4 April – a joint Printed in Sweden by TMG Sthlm, Bromma 2018 commission by the Lahti and Gothenburg orchestras. HIGHLIGHTS 4/2018 Cecilia Damström Cecilia Damström (b. PREMIERES 1988) has been awarded Photo: Marthe Veian MarthePhoto: the Rosenberg-Gehrmans January–March 2019 Scholarship 2018 for a KALEVI AHO Concerto for Two Bassoons young composer. Gehr- and Orchestra Warsaw PO/ Niklas Willén, sol. Bram van mans is also starting a col- Sambeek, Leszek Wachnik laboration with her. De- 18.1. Warsaw, Poland spite her young age, Cecilia Kirje tuolle puolen (Letter to the Netherworld) Damström already has a Ostrobothnian CO/Juha Kangas long list of works, including 19.1. Kokkola, Finland orchestral, chamber and VELI-MATTI PUUMALA Hommages Fugitifs 2 (9 choral music, as well as two bagatelles for piano): No. 1 chamber operas. To start Emil Holmström FLASHFLASH FLASHFLASH 30.1. Kaustinen, Finland with, Gehrmans is publish- ing three short orchestral MATTHEW WHITTALL Cecilia Damström A new work for ensemble pieces: Lucrum, Tundo! Crash Ensemble Premiere of Nuorvala’s Flash Flash 2.2. Helsinki, Finland (Musica nova) Th e opera Flash Flash by Juhani Nuorvala is to be pre- and Infi rmus, as well as a trilogy of quintets inspired by the JÖRGEN DAFGÅRD miered on 9 February, at next year’s Musica nova Helsinki. lives of three women, Aino , Minna and Helene, and the Tableau vivant for violin and orchestra Malmö SO/Anja Bihlmaier, sol. Daniel Th ere will be two performances, after which it will enter string quartet Letters composed for the Brodsky Quartet. Lozakovitj, violin the repertoire of the Espoo Th eatre with four more. Th e At present Damström is working on a commission for the 6.2. Malmö, Sweden production will be directed by Erik Söderblom, with a Finnish National Opera, a children’s opera Planet of the An- JACOB MÜHLRAD cast that includes Tuuli Lindeberg, David Hackston, Concert opening piece imals, which will have its premiere in March 2019. Dam- Gävle SO/Daniel Bjarnason Martti Anttila and Sampo Haapaniemi. ström has studied composition at the Tampere University 6.2. Gävle, Sweden Flash Flash has also been called the Warhol Opera, be- of Applied Sciences with Hannu Pohjannoro, and has just JUHANI NUORVALA cause the English libretto by Juha Siltanen is an exhilarating completed her Master’s Degree under Luca Francesconi at Flash Flash (opera) NYKY Ensemble/Nils Schweckendiek, rewind of the life of Andy Warhol. Th e music is a fearless the Malmö Academy of Music. sol. Tuuli Lindeberg, David Hackston, combination of classical, minimalist and pop. Martti Anttila, Sampo Haapaniemi etc. 9.2. Helsinki, Finland (Musica nova) ALBERT SCHNELZER Jacob Mühlrad’s Time Emperor Akbar for chamber orchestra Choral premieres Västerås Sinfonietta/Anja Bihlmaier Jacob Mühlrad’s large-scale a cappella A number of exciting choral premieres 21.2. Västerås, Sweden work Time was premiered by the Swed- has taken place during the past months. Piano Concerto – This is Your Kingdom ish Radio Choir and Ragnar Bohlin in Karin Rehnqvist’s Songs from the North, Swedish Radio SO/Thomas Søndergaard, Photo: Elisabeth Ohlson Wallin Ohlson Elisabeth Photo: Stockholm on 17 November. In the work built on Inuit poems, was premiered by sol. Conrad Tao 14.3. Stockholm, Sweden Mühlrad has translated the word time the American chamber choir Sacred OLLI KORTEKANGAS into 27 diff erent languages and arranged & Profane in Berkeley. Kjell Perder’s When not if (Five Love Songs) them in order of timbre. Th e work also Befria de förtryckta! (Set the Oppressed Nicholas Söderlund, bass, Hans-Otto Ehrström, piano includes excerpts of the Psalm 19 in He- Free!) had its fi rst performance with 9.3. Naantali, Finland brew and in English. Time is an interna- the Danderyd Vocal Ensemble and was TOBIAS BROSTRÖM tional co-commission from the Swedish heard again at the Lund Sacred Con- Concerto for Two Trumpets and Orchestra Radio Choir, Cappella San Francisco, temporary Music Festival in October. Malmö SO/John Storgårds, sol. Håkan the Tapiola Chamber Choir and WDR October also saw the premieres of An- Hardenberger, Jeroen Berwaerts 14.3. Malmö, Sweden Rundfunkchor Köln. Th e US premiere na-Karin Klockar’s Forever Hurts per- is scheduled for 23 February in Berkeley, formed by the Esoterics in Seattle, and TOMMIE HAGLUND Symphony No. 1 the Finnish premiere 10 March in Hel- Sven-David Sandström’s In paradisum Royal Stockholm Philharmonic/ Tobias Ringborg sinki and the German premiere 14 June by the Lund Vocal Ensemble, at the 28.3. Stockholm, Sweden in Cologne. Lund Choral Festival. (Stockholm Composer Weekend) KAI NIEMINEN Meri-LappiMeri-Lappi StringString QuarteQuartett FragmentalFragmental ReflRefl ectionsections String quartets by Kai Nieminen Osmo Palmu,Palmu, guitarguitar String Quartet No. 3, ‘Gestures of Winter’, by Kai Nie- 30.3. Oulu,Oulu, FinlandFinland minen has already had 15 performances. Composed in 2017 for the Meri-Lappi String Quartet, it extols the wonders of the arctic winter: the Northern Lights, darkness shrouded in mystery, and frosty shivers. Th e work is one of the items on a CD to be released by Mika Ahonen Photo: Pilfi nk Records on 5 March and including all three Nieminen string quartets. While on tour in autumn 2018, the Meri-Lappi Quartet performed also the string quartets by Juhani Nuorvala and Jaakko Kuusisto in addition to Ges- tures of Winter.