MATS LILJEROOS constitutes a stylistically independent project. The writer is a musicologist, freelance writer on music and music critic of the daily newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet. The Sixth Symphony had explored one avenue to the end and it was time to fi nd a new angle on the symphonic problem.

AN ABSOLUTE SYMPHONIC Humanism as symphonic fuel AESTHETIC Kalevi Aho’s music reaches out into new territories If the ”abstract intrigue” so prominent in Aho’s mainly non-programmatic music is absent in the programmatic, post-modernist Seventh Sym- phony (virtually unique among the Aho sympho- nies), then Aho is back on home ground in the extremely demanding Concerto and the Imagine a steep mountainside in seances via evocative tone paintings of the mid- OPERATIC SATIRE WITH massive Eighth Symphony (1993) for organ and the heart of myth-drenched Finnish winter darkness and the midnight sun to a raging A CRITICAL BARB orchestra. In the Piano Concerto he continues storm in the mountains, in four movements of to tackle the individual-collective relationship Lapland. In the background a majestic very varied character. The Neoclassical and at times tonal traits of the and pursues his thesis (with the soloist to guide fell, in the foreground a deep valley fi rst period were replaced by a more modernis- him on his journey) of the abstract intrigue to STRIKING IDIOM tic approach in the structurally and emotionally unprecedented heights. The same tendency is against a backdrop of dusky forests intricate Fifth Symphony (1975–76), which is al- apparent in the broadly-conceived Eighth Sym- and bare mountains. The Chamber “His slightly unassuming yet always kind ap- most “Ivesian” in its “colliding” musical planes. phony with its imaginative use of the organ as a pearance is vaguely reminiscent of Shostako- This modernistic approach was further accentu- dramatic and intellectual commentator. Orchestra of Lapland is perched half vich, while his musical voice, with its pluralistic ated in the Sixth Symphony – Aho’s most uncom- The thesis/antithesis concept so typical of way up the slope, the Radio Symphony conception of the world and its intricate balance promisingly advanced symphonic work so far, Aho’s artistic temperament sprouts an offshoot between the deliberately banal and the subtle, Orchestra at the foot. Grouped around including both micro-intervals and clusters on in the witty, pastiche-like Ninth Symphony for is undoubtedly closer to late Mahler.” It is easy its emotionally varied agenda. trombone and orchestra (1993–94). Written for are “mountain musicians”: brass players to agree with this anonymous opinion of Kalevi This second stylistic period continued with Christian Lindberg and subtitled Sinfonia Con- and exotic percussionists. The scene is Aho. Traces of these masters are present in his art such key works as the fi rst opera, the intense certante No. 2, it is nevertheless permeated with and worldview, although “Mahler seen through monologue Avain (The Key, 1977–78) for bari- the dark undertones typical of this . illuminated by the seductive rays of the the eyes of Shostakovich” is probably nearer the tone and thirteen instrumentalists, which reveals In the strictly non-programmatic Tenth Sym- northern sun, the wind whistles and it mark. an unerring instinct for stage and drama. This phony (1996), drawing on the main theme from Like Shostakovich, Aho matured early quality was refi ned even further in Aho’s next the fi rst movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. seems as though nature itself wants to and by the age of 22 had already written three work in this genre, as in the sombre and mod- 39, Aho sums up his experience of the symphony take part in this spectacular event. symphonies and as many string quartets. As in ernistic Concerto, in which the individual is so far. With its ingeniously modifi ed (though both Mahler and Shostakovich the symphonies inexorably crushed by the collective. never merely imitative) “Classical-Romantic” (Photo: Ghadi Boustani) (Photo: – together with the three chamber symphonies The opera Hyönteiselämää (Insect Life, aesthetic, it may be seen as a tribute to the great- his will – weather permitting – be the – form an emotionally conditioned dramaturgi- 1985–87), to a libretto by the composer him- est forerunners in this fi eld, with Bruckner in the setting for the fi rst performance of the cal thread running through his works. self after a play by Josef and Karel Capekˇ , and vanguard. since his fi rst four youthful at- Symphony for six percussion soloists and orches- TTwelfth Symphony, subtitled Luosto, by Starting with the First Symphony, written in the Insect Symphony (Symphony No. 7, 1988) tempts. Instead, he has experimented with vari- tra (1997–98). Rhythm now occupies a more Kalevi Aho (b. 1949) on 16 August 2003. A 1969 when he was still studying composition based on material from the opera, present a sear- eanwhile, Aho has also continued to ex- ous quintet constellations – six so far, including prominent role, and he pays closer attention to symphony specially designed for outdoor pur- with Einojuhani Rautavaara at the Sibelius ing criticism of society. Here Aho’s ironically plore new means of operatic expression. quintets for bassoon and string quartet, for alto the surface of the music. The same tendency can poses may not be unique in symphonic literature, Academy, Aho wrote no fewer than three sym- satiric side, occasionally glimpsed in his earlier MIn this respect his two latest operas, En- saxophone, bassoon, , cello and double bass, be seen in the Quintet for fl ute, , two but it is certainly rare enough to attract attention phonies over the next four years. The fi rst two works, scores a real triumph. He writes effective nen kuin me kaikki olemme hukkuneet (Before We and for clarinet and string quartet. and cello, written for the Kuhmo Chamber Mu- beyond the boundaries of Sodankylä, the mu- already display two basic qualities of his musi- tape music – his only attempt so far in this fi eld All Have Drowned, 1995/99, libretto by Aho His relatively comprehensive solo repertoire sic Festival in 2000, and the Tuba Concerto, even nicpality that commissioned it. cal conception: his feeling for and often highly – and happily makes use of pastiches on such based on a radio play by Juha Mannerkorpi) includes two Sonatas for , both written though features characteristic of earlier periods Obviously one of the biggest challenges has original use of form (the fi rst and last move- popular music forms as the tango and foxtrot. and Salaisuuk sien kirja (The Book of Secrets, for Marjut Tynkkynen, a Sonata for Solo Violin, are also present here. While constantly reaching been designing the sound and acoustics so that ments of the First Symphony are fugues and the The insect opera and symphony heralded a 1998, libretto by Paavo Rintala and Kalevi Aho) a Sonata for Oboe and Piano, a virtuosic Piano out into new territory, Aho continues to draw on the symphony also works in a normal concert. Second Symphony is a gigantic triple fugue) and third stylistic period, in which the pluralistic el- are important, though different, milestones. The Sonata written for Liisa Pohjola and a series of expressive devices familiar from earlier periods. Though Aho admits that there are always risks his propensity for stylistic and expressive open- ement plays an even greater part. Yet each work psychologically astute chamber opera Before We compositions for solo instruments named “Solo”, Aho has always adopted a humanistic ap- involved in a project like this, he is convinced ness and fl exibility (the second movement of the All Have Drowned, composed for the Finnish including Solo III for fl ute, Solo IV for cello and proach in his music. This has included the com- that the symphony will be able to hold its own First Symphony is a stylised waltz, the third an National Opera, raises seemingly trivial human Solo VI for double bass. pletion and editing of works by other in other contexts. “The tonal language was, of excursion into a slightly surrealistic pseudo-Ba- life to a higher existential plane. One striking Apart from his operas, Aho is not a markedly – a job for which, with his sound knowledge of course, conceived with the specifi c demands of roque world). feature of the opera is the natural writing for vocal composer, but he has produced a number music history, he is unusually well-suited. He has the fi rst performance in mind, but the musical The Third Symphony bears the subtitle Sin- the human voice. The compact fresco The Book of fi ne choral works and the delightful song cycle also produced an amazing amount of literature substance should guarantee that balance won’t be fonia Concertante No. 1 and is a fi rst attempt to of Secrets, composed for the Savonlinna Opera Kiinalaisia lauluja (Chinese Songs, 1977) for so- on music over the years, including 460 articles, a problem anywhere else, such as at the Sibelius determine the optimal relationship between the Festival, is the last part of a “human” trilogy, pre- prano and small orchestra/piano. Here his well- a number of newspaper columns and a variety of Hall in Lahti.” individual (the solo violin) and the collective (the ceded by Herman Rechberger’s …nunc et sem- developed feeling for delicate orchestral timbres essays. He has also reconstructed and completed The symphony is 52 minutes long and scored orchestra). The next attempt came ten years later per… and Olli Kortekangas’s Marian Rakkaus adds a special dimension to these sensitive set- works by Erik Tulindberg (the six string quar- for 120 musicians and two singers – Aho’s largest with the richly expressive, passionately virtuosic (Ma ria’s Love). tings of ancient Chinese poetry. tets), Sibelius (early chamber works and Kare- work of its kind to date. On a conceptual plane it Violin Concerto. The magnifi cent Fourth Sym- lia) and Uuno Klami (the orchestral version of is programme music somewhat similar to Richard phony with its widely varied emotional contrasts CHAMBER MUSIC: WRITINGS AND the fi rst act of the unfi nished ballet Pyörteitä / Strauss’s Alpensinfonie, though the musical expres- between massive and subtle orchestral sonorities THE QUINTET PROJECT RECONSTRUCTIONS Whirls). He has written a new third act to the sion is, of course, very different. Inspired by the inevitably calls to mind the Fourth Symphony of ballet, which can also be performed separately scenery and traditions of Lapland, it depicts both Shostakovich and represents the culmination of Another important line in Aho’s output is his Aho himself claims that he entered on a fourth under the title Sinfonisia tansseja (Symphonic “inner” and “outer” experiences, from shamanic Aho’s fi rst stylistic period. Insect Life (Photo: Kari Hakli) chamber music. He has never returned to the artistic era with the dynamic, energetic Eleventh Dances). Hommage à Uuno Klami (2001). At 4 5 Martti Talvela’s request he orchestrated Mus- Composer-pianist Nils Lindberg will be seventy this summer. He grew up in sorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death. Gagnef in the Swedish province of Dalecarlia and comes from a family with a Aho has also written articles on Finnish music and the Finnish national epic the Kale- long tradition of folk and church music. He began to play jazz in his teens and in 1989 by an ensemble including Lena Wil- the Nord-Deutscher Rundfunk and the Hanover vala, on Einojuhani Rautavaara the symphon- during the 1950s studied counterpoint and composition at the Royal College of lemark, Martin Best, the Swedish Radio Choir Symphony Orchestra, for which I composed and ist, and – with Marjo Valkonen – a biography and the Fresk String Quartet. (ABCD 032) “By arranged a large number of works between 1968 of Uuno Klami. He has edited texts by Joonas Music in Stockholm. Throughout his career he has worked both as a professional then three of the titles had already been arranged and 1980.” Kokkonen, Ernest Pingoud and Erik Berg- musician and as a composer. He has combined his roots in Swedish for unaccompanied choir. Later on I arranged Nils Lindberg’s latest orchestral work, My- man and written many thought-provoking the whole suite for choir and then things just tologiska bilder (Dalecarlian Tales) is a concerto articles, not only on music, art and aesthetics and jazz with the formal structures of to create a uniquely took off!” for soprano saxophone and symphony orchestra but also on politics and social criticism. personal idiom that has been highly successful both in Sweden and abroad. He The choral suite was an enormous success written for the phenomenal saxophonist An- both in Sweden and abroad and was recorded on ders Paulsson. “Dalecarlian Tales is a concerto THE CONCERTO CHALLENGE is a genuine crossover fi gure on the Swedish musical scene. CD by Gustaf Sjökvist’s Chamber Choir (LBCD that is composed throughout, i.e. there are no 0024). Shall I compare Thee to a summer’s day improvised passages, but since my name is so Aho has always been a prolifi c composer. Still was the most popular of the songs, and in 1998 closely associated with jazz, some of the Swed- awaiting their premieres are the Twelfth Sym- it sold more copies than any other choral piece ish symphony orchestras are not quite sure about phony, the Piano Concerto No. 2 for piano and in Sweden. Later on Lindberg was told that the it. Paulsson has had the solo part for a year now string orchestra commissioned by the Mänttä Kristina Fryklöf piece was sung in New York at the premiere of and can play it from memory, so now we are just Music Festival and the Flute Concerto written NILS LINDBERG the fi lm Shakespeare in Love. “The other day waiting for the fi rst performance.” for Sharon Bezaly. I received a translation of Shall I compare from This summer Nils Lindberg celebrates his The list of commissions is long and, as a France and now it’s going to be published there seventieth birthday. As usual, there will be a natural continuation of the educational works – a crossover composer in French. I never dreamt that it would become number of concerts during the summer months. which run like a scarlet thread through his so successful when I wrote it.” He has been awarded the Lars Gullin Prize and output, includes a piece for the Tapiola Youth Nils Lindberg has composed and arranged a he will take part in a couple of concerts in con- Orchestra. He is also working on the Thir- large amount of music for unaccompanied choir nection with the award. Then there will be mu- teenth Symphony, commissioned by the Lahti met Nils Lindberg while he was visiting church was packed and the moving performance since the early 90s including a series of arrange- sic-making at Oskar Lindberg’s organ studio, an Symphony Orchestra for the fi fth anniversary Stockholm at the end of March to attend a received a standing ovation. (The performance ments of Swedish folk songs and new works such annual event at the Siljan Music Festival. of the Sibelius Hall in 2005. Aho is Com- Finally, I ask Lindberg if he has any new performance of his Requiem in Stockholm was recorded and released on the Phono Suecia Urban Gärds) (Photo: as the suite Ljus och mörker (Poems on Light and poser-in-Residence of the Lahti Symphony I Cathedral. A couple of weeks earlier he had been label, PSCD 78.) Darkness), Sommaren (Summer) and Lärkan projects on the go. “I’m working on a commis- Orchestra, which is now recording his entire to another three performances at the Gothen- “Performances of the Requiem are always (The Lark). “It’s tremendous fun writing for sion for Uppsala Cathedral. They feel there is output on the BIS label. The work at present burg Concert Hall – all amounting to as many very exciting and no two are ever the same, since choir. The encounter of text and music fascinates a shortage of popular chorales for chorus and gracing his piano (his faithful companion) is as fi fty in Europe and the United States since the the work contains a number of sections that are carol, and so on. All in all I used fourteen carols, me and it is a wonderful way to reach people organ. I’ve managed to fi nd eight ancient Dale- a commission from the BBC for the Man- premiere of the Requiem ten years ago. Further completely free, leaving room for improvisation. which are linked together by the Christmas texts with one’s music.” carlian chorales based on psalm verses but with chester International Cello Festival in 2004: hearings are scheduled in Holland and Germany Perhaps the most remarkable performance was from the Bible in the form of sung recitative.” melodies that originate in that area. I’ve written a concerto for two and orchestra to be this year. in Omaha, Nebraska with one of America’s fi n- CROSSOVER ORCHESTRAL WORKS organ versions of each chorale with variations premiered by Frans Helmerson and Jan-Erik est big bands (the US Air Force Big Band). In O MISTRESS MINE and then taken the same melody and arranged it Gustafsson. The commission is, Aho says, as A REQUIEM WITH BIG BAND the Tuba Mirum (where the doomsday trumpets Nils Lindberg’s interest in choral music was for choir. But I expect I’ll want something bigger demanding as it is stimulating: “There aren’t sound and the graves are opened) a New Orleans Another major vocal work by Lindberg is O Mis- aroused relatively late in life. When he fi rst start- to get my teeth into in a while, and new projects The idea for the Requiem came to Nils Lindberg many historical models since Vivaldi and the band suddenly marched on to the stage playing tress Mine, a suite for two solo singers, chorus ed composing, he began with instrumental mu- always crop up sooner or later.” ■ when he was on holiday in Spain: “In the early big challenge is, of course, to create the nec- “Just a closer walk to Thee”. I didn’t even know and orchestra based on English poems from the sic, mainly jazz. In the 1950s he went to Stock- 90s I developed a taste for writing choral music. essary contrast between the two solo instru- they were going to do it. And that’s what makes Elizabethan era by Shakespeare, Marlowe, Her- holm to study composition at the Royal College I wanted to do something novel and radical but ments and between the soloists and the or- it so special – it’s a new Requiem every time.” rick and others. The music touches lightly upon of Music with Karl-Birger Blomdahl and Lars- chestra.” couldn’t come up with any new ideas. While on the expression of the Renaissance but is entirely Erik Larsson with the intention of composing A composer with one foot in the past and holiday in Spain one Christmas I was inspired by A CHRISTMAS CANTATA his. The fi rst poem to be set to music was Shake- orchestral works. He developed a unique crosso- one in the present, Aho combines infl uences all the Catholic processions I saw, and suddenly speare’s sonnet Shall I compare Thee to a summer’s ver idiom by combining elements of folk music from the most disparate sources and trans- one night I woke up and knew exactly what I On 21 December last year it was time for the day, which has become one of Lindberg’s most and jazz with the formal structures of classical forms them through his creative and emotion- wanted to do. I would take the ancient Latin fi rst performance of a sequel to the Requiem, popular compositions. music. A number of works for orchestra have al fi lter into something quite unique. He does requiem text, as so many composers have done A Christmas Cantata. “About a year ago the “When I toured the United States in 1987, I been composed over the years: Seven Dalecarlian not believe in complexity simply for the sake before me, but use an enlarged big band, chorus idea came to me to write a companion work to very much wanted to take a new ballad in Eng- Paintings, Concerto Grosso in Dalecarlian Style of it. His music always communicates directly and soloists. After all, jazz actually began partly the Requiem, but this time with joyful Christ- lish with me. I approached my recording produc- and Lapponian Suite, to mention just a few. Con- with the listener, being simultaneously ‘easy’ as funeral music in New Orleans.” mas music. The concept would be the same er, Frank Hedman, and asked him if he knew certo’63 was one of his earliest orchestral works. yet ‘diffi cult’, but never banal, over-intellec- In the Requiem the big band is supplement- – enlarged big band, chorus and soloists – but I anyone in Sweden who could write a good poem “In the early 60s I received a commission tual, introvert or aloof. ed by two French horns, two fl utes and four per- didn’t really know how to go about it. “ in English, whereupon he suggested William from Eurovision to write something for sym- Kalevi Aho is equally natural and unaf- cussion players, plus a choir and three soloists Nils Lindberg began by looking through Shakespeare. He sent me masses of poems, not phony orchestra and jazz group. I called it fected in his symphonies and operas as he is in (two sopranos and a baritone). There are traces various Christmas oratorios and decided to write just by Shakespeare but also by other Elizabethan “Symphony”, a title that immediately met with his intimate musical miniatures. Monumental of jazz, Gregorian chant, church modes and folk a Christmas cantata in English. He got in touch poets. I fell for Shakespeare’s sonnet immediately. protests in Sweden – at that time jazz still wasn’t landscapes painted in broad brushstrokes go music and the various idioms are interwoven, with the Anglican Church and read the Bible It had such an obvious rhythm and musicality, really accepted. The Swedish Composers’ Society hand in hand with delicate watercolours, seri- giving the music a sacred character. Lindberg in English. The Bible texts he chose begin with and it probably didn’t take me more than twenty contacted the producer at the Swedish Broad- ous artistic confessions and humour. The spec- was not sure whether anyone in Sweden would Isaiah’s prophecy of “The coming of the Prince minutes to fi nish the composition.” casting Corporation and said that if we didn’t trum of human emotions is always wide, and be prepared to back the idea, but he rang the of Peace” and continue with the well-known A year later Lindberg was going to do a con- change the name of the work, in other words if he never lets his listeners off lightly. He poses Swedish Broadcasting Corporation when he got Christmas gospels. Musically the cantata is based cert with the English singer Martin Best and we insisted on calling it a symphony, then they questions and sows the seeds of thoughts and back from Spain and they were immediately en- on traditional English Christmas carols from the set another Elizabethan poem to music for the wouldn’t allow it to be broadcast on the radio. impulses that continue to germinate long after thusiastic. The Requiem was fi rst performed in 16th and 17th centuries. “I took a passage from occasion – The Passionate Shepherd by Christo- And that was how the work got its present name, the last note has died away. ■ April 1993 at St. Clara’s Church in Stockholm by the selected Bible texts and tried out different pher Marlowe. This was the start of an entire Concerto’63. It wasn’t easy to be a crossover art- the Swedish Radio Choir and the Nils Lindberg carols to see where they would fi t in. Each sung suite, O Mistress Mine, based on Elizabethan ist here in Sweden. The climate in Germany was Big Band conducted by Gustaf Sjökvist. The part of the Bible text should allude to the next poems which was fi rst performed and recorded far more liberal, and I began to collaborate with 6 7