REPERTOIRE TIPS Music on the theme of sea and water

KALEVI AHO KIMMO HAKOLA ANDERS PAULSSON Rejoicing of the Deep Waters Maro (2006) Dur: 15’ Coral Symphony – Kumulipo (Syvien vesien juhla) (1995) 3333-4331-12-​hp-pf-str OR Reflections (2016) Dur: 17’ 2222-2221-02-hp-pf-str Dur: 10’ for Hawaiian chant (reciter) or baritone 3333-4331-11-str Maro was a commission from the and orchestra: 3333-4231-14-hp-cel-str Swedish Radio for the Baltic Sea Text: Trad. (The Kumulipo)/transl. This symphonic fantasy, inspired by Festival. Though a musical sea Martha Warren Beckwith (Eng) his Before We Are All Drowned, picture, it also takes a stand on the is one of Aho’s most dramatically pollution of the Baltic Sea, about This tone poem is based on the Ha- intense pieces for orchestra. The which Hakola is as concerned as he waiian creation myth ‘Kumulipo’ that impassioned outer sections are char- is by climate warming. The result is begins with the words: ”And born acterized by the forceful statements an orchestral epic of both beautiful was the coral polyp…”. A Hawaiian Pahu drum sets a ceremonial rhythm from the brass, woodwind and strings while relief is presented in the middle sounds and fierce energy. Around the middle it rides waves of timbral webs that evokes the spirits of ancient Hawaii as the evolution of the species part by the chorale sections. and from there proceeds to an effective build-up. grows exponentially. The story is conveyed by a Hawaiian chant or is sung by a baritone, while the colourful orchestral attire creates images of the mighty ,...Freezing Were the Restless Waters (1995-96) UUNO KLAMI sea, and above all the swarming life under its surface. The work is intended to be performed together with a coral reef slideshow Dur: 9’ Sea Pictures (Merikuvia) str (1930-32) Dur: 22’ This is the first movement from Aho’s Chamber Symphony No. 3. It opens 2222-4231-11-hp-pf-str softly and mysteriously, with fascinating dialogues between numerous Klami was called the impressionist On the Last Frontier string sonorities and glissandi. Eventually an ominous rhythmic motive be- (Viimeisellä rajalla) (1998) gins to consume the musical landscape; the movement ends, however, with of Finnish music and he was influ- a return to the opening texture. enced by French and Spanish music. Dur: 24’ His use of melody is here at its most Fantasy for chorus (SATB) and beautiful. The second movement, orchestra: 3233-4331-12-hp-str HUGO ALFVÉN Captain Scrapuchinat, has some exotic Text: Rautavaara after Edgar Allan de-Falla-like brushstrokes. The finale, Poe (Eng) A Legend from the Skerries 3 Bf, is the most popular movement, (En Skärgårdssägen) (1904) frequently played on its own, and it is often said to resemble Ravel’s Bolero. This fantasy opens with a sumptu- Dur: 16’ ous, mysterious orchestral section. 3344-4231-12-2hp-str Beautiful, shining flute and oboe solos against a choral background alter- HELENA MUNKTELL nate with a sea of orchestral sound in stormy majesty. As the poem pro- A symphonic tone poem describing ceeds, the choir transports the listener on a mysterious voyage towards the the outskirts of the archipelago in Breakers (Bränningar) (1895) horizons of the unknown. a nocturnal atmosphere of autumn Dur: 12’ with glittering moonlight, with 3322-4231-12-1-str Daughter of the Sea (Meren tytär) (1971) Dur: 17’ Concerto for soprano, mixed choir and orchestra: 3333-4331-12-hp-str stormy weather, in dreamy tran- A symphonic picture and a graphic Text: Phonetics quillity and in a life struggle – a depiction of the sea inspired by a depiction that simultaneously lets the nature images throughout offer an sojourn on the Riviera in the early analogue to the dark bliss of human passion. Rautavaara forbade the performance of this work after his divorce from his 1890s. The piece captures the tur- first wife, for whom it was composed, but later changed his mind. Written bulence of the sea and the unpre- a year before the popular Cantus arcticus, it affords an exciting vista of his dictability of the waves, with their music in the early 1970s. It was born when Rautavaara was adapting his continual fluctuations of character Concerto as a concerto for soprano and entered it for a composition Musica Marina (1993-94) and colour in the imaginative orches- competition in which he shared the first prize with Aulis Sallinen. Dur: 11’ tral texture. str ALBERT SCHNELZER This is music inspired by the sea and GUSTAF NORDQVIST it is also a homage to the building SALT (2020) Dur: 40’ of the ship Jacobstads Wapen that Till havs (At Sea) (1922) Oratorio for soprano, baritone, mixed made its maiden voyage in 1994. The Dur: 3’ choir and symphony orchestra: first movement generates an energy for high or medium voice and 3333-4331-13-hp-pf/cel-str which permeates the whole work, orchestra: 2222-2231-11-str Text: K. Boye, E. Södergran, M. Elmblad, except for the second movement, Text: Jonatan Reuter (Sw) D. Andersson (Sw) May Night, which conveys the atmosphere of a spring evening in the North. Nordqvist’s vivid setting of the Fin- The themes of this cantata are the Here a solo cello makes its appearance – a solitary person’s meditation and land-Swedish poet Jonatan Reuter’s sea, travel and migration. Here the emotions. text is an impassioned homage to sea can be something that is both the sea. The piece came to be one of full of promise and thrilling, but at BOBBIE ERICSON/ the Swedish star tenor Jussi Björling’s the same time frightful. The soloists big showpieces. can be considered representatives for the above themes, the soprano as an ARR. ANDERS WAHLGREN image of the sea and the baritone soloist as a representative for mankind. All Outer Skerries (Utskärgård) (1962) the texts have a connection with the sea and musically there are even some GÖSTA NYSTROEM Dur: 3’ references to works such as La Mer by Debussy. The work was composed for 2121-2330-11-hp-str Sinfonia del Mare (1947-48) the 400th anniversary of the city of Gothenburg in 2021. Dur: 37’ An undulating waltz-melody that brings to mind carefree, salt-sprinkled for soprano and orchestra: summer days with boat trips in the archipelago. Originally written for BENJAMIN STAERN 3333-4331-12-hp-pf-cel-str piano but often performed in this well-known arrangement for orchestra Text: Ebba Lindqvist (Sw/Eng/It/Fr/Ger) En strimma hav (A Streak of by Anders Wahlgren. the Sea) (2020) Dur: 10’ Nystroem often used the sea as a for choir, young players and orchestra: source of inspiration in his impres- 2222-4231-13 sionistically tinged music. His Third Text: Edith Södergran (Sw) Symphony is dedicated to ”all the sailors upon the seven seas” and opens with quietly rumbling timpani and This work, commissioned by El double basses, followed by a soft, billowing melody that brings to mind Sistema Sweden for their 10th an- gentle swells. Violently whipped up waves take over in a rhythmically pro- niversary, is inspired by Södergran’s filed allegro section. The central point of the symphony is the vocal lento poem ‘A Streak of the Sea’. The music movement, an extremely beautiful setting of Ebba Lindqvist’s poem ‘Det is dramatic, expansive and filled with enda (The Only Thing)’, which concludes with the words ”all this I should energy. It starts out calmly and quietly, but the waves grow increasingly gladly forsake for one breath of the wind from the sea.” stronger the farther into the work we come. The has also had climate change and the risk of future floods in mind. The work was written as part of the project ”Side by Side”, where musicians from professional sym- phony orchestras play together with the youngsters from El Sistema.

6 HIGHLIGHTS 2/2021