nordic
HIGHLIGHTS
1/2015
N E W S L E T T E R F RO M G E H R M A N S M U S I K F Ö R L A G & F E NNIC A G E H R M A N
Focus on
Kortekangas and
Schnelzer
Jüri Reinvere’s opera Peer Gynt
NEWS
Kyllönen at 60
The Bergslagens Kammarsymfoniker have chosen TimoJuhani Kyllönen as their Composer-in-Residence for this
year. This will mean performances of orchestral and chamber works by him and a new orchestral commission. The
year will culminate in a gala concert at the Cassels Concert
Hall in Grängesberg, Sweden on 18 June.
Kyllönen’s 60th birthday year will also be celebrated
with a concert of his works at the Sibelius Museum in
Turku in November.
This August Gehrmans will issue a new piano
anthology with 67 Swedish piano pieces from
the 18th century through modern times. It will
include classics by Roman, Peterson-Berger,
Stenhammar and Larsson, but also pieces by
contemporary composers such as Victoria
Borisova-Ollas, Daniel Börtz, Albert
Schnelzer and Staffan Storm. The editors
have also chosen to highlight a few of their
own favourite pieces by neglected female composers such as Valborg Aulin, Elfrida Andrée
and Laura Netzel. The anthology is being
prepared in collaboration with the Malmö
Academy of Music, and is compiled by Professor Hans Pålsson, one of Sweden’s foremost
concert pianists, and Tina Sjögren, the editor
of the acclaimed anthology Svenska Romanser.
Hakola & Puumala as Artistic Directors
Kimmo Hakola has been appointed the new Artistic
Director of the Lux musicae festival and is planning
the programme for this year already. As its new Artistic
Director the Kaustinen Chamber Music Festival has
chosen Veli-Matti Puumala. The Uusinta Ensemble
performed music by Puumala at the festival’s focus concert in January 2015.
Music by Rautavaara on stage
and at festivals
Aho’s Sieidi tours the world
Kalevi Aho’s percussion concerto Sieidi
is blazing a trail across the world with Colin
Currie as the soloist. It has already been performed more than 20 times since its premiere
in London in April 2012, in countries as far apart as the United States, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands and Spain. It is scheduled for the Vienna Konzerthaus
on 17 June, when Martin Grubinger will be its soloist for the first time with the Vienna
Symphony Orchestra. The conductor will once again be Osmo Vänskä.
HIGHLIGHTS
Sound samples
, video clips
and other material are available at
www.gehrmans.se/highlights
Cover photos: Peer Gynt opera (Erik Berg),
Olli Kortekangas (Saara Vuorjoki/Music Finland),
Albert Schnelzer (Hans Lindén)
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 2015
Photo: Adam Haglund
www.fennicagehrman.fi/highlights
1/2015
Both Jörgen Dafgård
and Kalevi Aho are com
posing soprano saxo
phone concertos for
Anders Paulsson. Dafgårds idea for his work
Rainbow Valley was born
from a vision of an allencompassing love when
he was gazing out over
a verdant valley between
mountains in Italy. The
concerto is commissio
ned jointly by the Jön
köping and Västerås
Sinfoniettas to be premiered in May 2016. The Chamber
Orchestra of Lapland will commission the Aho concerto,
and the premiere is scheduled for November 2015.
Staern’s busy spring
1/2015
NEWSLE T TER FROM GEHRMANS MUSIKFÖRLAG & FENNICA GEHRMAN
H i ghl i ghts
Dafgård and Aho
compose for
Anders Paulsson
Photo: Heikki Tuuli
On 25 April, the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe is to
premiere Davide Bombana’s choreography Der Prozess, to
the music of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s orchestral Angel of
and Angels and Visitations. Angel
Dusk, Angel of Light
of Light has also been chosen as the music for the full-length
ballet choreographed by Hans Henning Paar. The premiere
at the Münster Theatre will be on 23 January 2016. Rauta
vaara will also be represented at the Presteigne Festival in
the UK this year. The Festival Orchestra, conducted by
George Vass, will perform his Suite for String Orchestra and
Canto III on 28–30 August, and the Choir of Royal Hollo
on 29 August.
way will sing Vespers from his Vigilia
Benjamin Staern is presently busy working on a Trumpet
Concertino for Filip Draglund and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, to be premiered on 26 April.
The striking concert overture Jubilate will be heard at
the Finnish Oulu Music Festival in March, and April will
see the US premiere of the piece by the APU Symphony
conducted by Christopher Russell in Azusa, California.
Following the successes in Gävle and Helsingborg Staern’s
Polar Vortex – Symphony No.1 will receive yet another
performance in April by the Norrköping SO under Michael
Francis. The Stockholm Chamber Brass will include
Staern’s brass quintet Two Souls, One Thought, as well as his
Confrontation for solo trumpet and brass quintet on their
tour to Rostock, Germany and Roeselare, Belgium in May.
Photo: Kristian Pohl
Editor Hans Pålsson
nordic
Photo Andreas Pålsson
New Swedish piano anthology
Another Sandström Passion
Sven-David Sandström has composed a St. John Passion to be premiered in Easter 2016 in Berlin. The texts
to the libretto have been compiled by Jacob Holtze and contain, besides biblical excerpts, texts and quotations
by Dante, Blake, Eliot, Joyce, Rilke, Grundtvig and Tranströmer, among others. The 100 minute Passion is a
commission from the Mogens Dahl Chamber Choir, and scored for two male vocal soloists, choir, tuba and
string quartet.
Haglund and Reinvere awarded
On 30 January Tommie Haglund received H. M.
the King’s medal, for his significant achievements in
Swedish musical life, during a ceremony at the Royal
Palace in Stockholm.
Jüri Reinvere received the cultural award of the
Republic of Estonia for his opera Peer Gynt , commissioned by the Norwegian National Opera and
premiered in Oslo on 29 November. Designated
for outstanding creative achievements in the field of
culture, the honour was awarded on 23 February at
the University of Tartu.
Anna Liisa on disc
Photo: Saara Vuorjoki/Music Finland
The opera Anna Liisa by Veli-Matti Puumala, performed by the Tapiola Sinfonietta and the Helsinki
Chamber Choir conducted by Jan Söderblom, is
to be released as a premiere recording by Ondine in
March 2015. Singing the part of Anna Liisa will be
Helena Juntunen in a cast that will also include Jorma
Hynninen, Tanja Kauppinen and Ville Rusanen.
Based on the play of the same name by Minna
Canth, Anna Liisa, premiered in 2008, is a powerful
drama about infanticide and its consequences both
for the individual and the community.
New agreement
with Matthew Whittall
Fennica Gehrman has signed a publishing agreement
with Matthew Whittall for the following orchestral
works: The return of light, The Architecture of Happiness, Dulcissima, clara, sonans, The heaven that dwells
so deep, Solen and Northlands. The agreement also
includes selected chamber, instrumental and choral
works. Whittall (b. 1975) studied in his native Canada
and the United States before settling in Finland in
2001. Music by him has been performed by, among
others, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and in
Finland by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra,
the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the
Helsinki Chamber Choir. In 2013 Matthew Whittall was awarded the Teosto Prize for his Dulcissima,
clara, sonans.
P r e m ie r es
Spring 2015
KALEVI AHO Törö
Petri Kumela, guitar • 5.2. Espoo, Finland
Wind Quintet No. 2
Philharmonisches Bläserquintett Berlin • 14.6. Berlin, Germany
MIKKO HEINIÖ Through Green Glass
Patrik Kleemola, guitar • 23.3. London, UK
OLLI KORTEKANGAS The Return
Tapiola Chamber Choir/Hannu Norjanen • 29.3. Helsinki, Finland
Höstlig skärgård
YL Male Voice Choir/Pasi Hyökki • 11.4. Helsinki, Finland
KIMMO HAKOLA Re:Joy for organ
Tuomas Pyrhönen • 12.5. Helsinki, Finland
ALBERT SCHNELZER Tales from Suburbia
BBC SO/Kirill Karabits • 13.3. London, UK
BENJAMIN STAERN Trumpet Concertino
Helsingborg SO/Nazanin Aghakhani, sol. Filip Draglund
• 26.4. Helsingborg, Sweden
TOBIAS BROSTRÖM Theatron
for two percussion soloists and orchestra
Dresdner Philharmonie/Michael Sanderling,
sol. Johan Bridger, Patrick Raab • 16.5. Dresden, Germany
JONAS VALFRIDSSON The Temples of Kamakura
Norrköping SO/Michael Francis • 21.5. Norrköping, Sweden
NEW CDs
Kalevi Aho
Works for Solo Piano (19 Preludes, Three Small
Piano Pieces, Two Easy Piano Pieces for Children,
Sonatina, Solo II,
Sonata for Piano)
Sonja Fräki, piano
BIS-SACD-2106
Veljo Tormis
Laulusild
(Bridge of Song)
Vox Aurea/Sanna Salminen
Alba NCD 50 “Aalloilla”
Veli-Matti Puumala
Anna Liisa
Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki Chamber Choir/
Nils Schweckendiek, Jan Söderblom, sol. Helena Juntunen,
Jorma Hynninen, Tanja Kauppinen and Ville Rusanen.
Ondine ODE 1254-2D
Photo: Jussi Vierimaa
Forthcoming Heiniö premieres
Mikko Heiniö’s new work Ilta (Evening), 11 dance songs for choir, clarinet and cello will be
premiered in Turku on 9 September 2015. For this joint production commissioned by the
ERI Dance Theatre and the Key Ensemble chamber choir, Heiniö has compiled a series of
poems in different languages showing evening in various lights: in the glowing colours of love
and sunset or in dark shades of death and moonlight. The choreography and stage direction
are by Tiina Lindfors and the Key Ensemble will be conducted by Teemu Honkanen.
Guitarist Patrik Kleemola has commissioned Heiniö to compose a solo work called
Through Green Glass to be premiered at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on 23 March.
Heiniö has also been commissioned to write an Organ Concerto for the Cathedral Festival in
Turku in 2016. The soloist will be Pétur Sakari.
H i ghl i ghts
1/2015
Seeking the connection
between feeling, words
and music
Photo: Turun Sanomat/ Lennart Holmberg
“I write the sort of music I’d like to hear. Isn’t that what every
composer, if he’s honest, tries to do?” says Olli Kortekangas.
Thus Olli Kortekangas once crystallised his fundamental principle as a composer.
Honesty has paid off, because many others also
want to listen to his music. His choral works
have found performers the world over, and his
operas have spoken straight to the hearts of
Finnish audiences. At 60 Kortekangas is one of
Finland’s leading contemporary composers.
Olli Kortekangas first made a name for himself
in the late 1970s, when he co-founded the Korvat
auki (Ears Open) group that shook Finnish musical life with its avant-garde. He nevertheless soon
distanced himself from the strictures of modernism
and his expression began to expand. In the 1990s
it grew richer, more dramaturgically dynamic and
emotionally powerful. The change in his musical
thinking has, however, always been a gradual, evolutionary process, not a sharp new stylistic departure.
“I try to define man’s place
in the universe”
Vocal, and especially choral music occupies a focal
position in Kortekangas’s output. He pays great
attention to his texts; life philosophies and worldviews are among the things that interest him. To
give an example: his symphonic cantata Seven
Songs for Planet Earth (commissioned by the Choral Arts Society of Washington and the Tampere
Philharmonic Orchestra, 2011) addresses the relationship between man and nature.
“My vocal texts are fundamentally about understanding human existence. What is man’s place in
the universe? In my mind I’m a seeker and a sceptic, but I’m also open to alternative explanations.
I can handle doubt; the world can be explained in
many ways.”
One major category for Kortekangas is music
for children’s choir. His works in this genre have
often been coloured by a workshop-style mode
of composition collaborating closely with young
singers, most notably with the world-renowned
Tapiola Choir. Then there are the ambitious
Verbum (1987), Shadows (2002) and the Mediterranean Sea cycle
(2003) demanding much of
their performers.
H i ghl i ghts
1/2015
Kortekangas has also written widely for solo
voice. Foreign languages also interest him. “The
language does affect the music,” he says emphatically. This is borne out in Vier Bilder aus dem Buch
der Wandlungen (Four Images from The Book of
Changes, 2001), using texts from the ancient Chinese Book of Changes in two languages. Another
work, Pietà (2010) for soprano, viola da gamba
and harpsichord, in turn represents the superimposition of many time planes: early period instruments, a contemporary idiom and poems by Anna
Akhmatova.
Personal stories against
a historical background
Opera, a synthesis of diverse modes of expression, is
a genre for which Kortekangas feels a natural affinity. He has so far composed seven operas, covering a
variety of milieus and epochs and differing in their
treatment. Yet they all, he says, have one communal
theme: “The central idea in my operas is to view personal stories against a historical background.”
Marian rakkaus (Maria’s Love, 1999), examining
20th-century history overshadowed by war and
dictatorship, was part of the operatic trilogy Aika
ja uni (The Age of Dreams) by three composers
commissioned by the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Messenius and Lucia
(2005) describes the
life of Johannes Messenius, a true-life Swedish
historian of the late 16th and early 17th century,
but with the addition of a modern dimension and
debating the essence of historiography. The most
highly-acclaimed of Kortekangas’s operas to date
has been Isän tyttö (Daddy’s Girl, 2006) which has
been staged both in Savonlinna and at the Finnish National Opera. Yhden yön juttu (One Night
Stand, 2010), spotlighting young people in a modern urban setting, is once again more experimental
and his most modern in terms of treatment, and
like some of his choral works, it was composed
along workshop lines.
Composing operas is, for Kortekangas, a major
forum for collaborating with other artists. “I try
to get together with the librettist as early as possible, and the story begins to take shape as we talk
it over.” The composer of an opera is, according to
Kortekangas, really a dramaturge. It is his job not
only to mastermind the work as a whole but also
to see that the characters have individual traits. “I
create a personal musical world for the different
characters, a personal idiolect. This may, for example,
be a leitmotif, but more often an instrumentation
or harmony, or a phrasal construction. And the
ensembles: they are the salt of the opera! There are
far too few of these in contemporary opera.”
The drama of concertos and the
bread-and-butter of chamber music
Side by side with his vocal works, Kortekangas has
composed a fair amount of instrumental music.
While he was composer-in-residence of the Oulu
Symphony Orchestra in 1997–2007, he began to
concentrate more on orchestral music. He has felt
a special pull towards concertos (Charms for piano
trio and orchestra, 1998, an Organ Concerto, 2009
and a Piano Concerto, 2011), in which the things
that meant most to him are drama, communication and narrative. His most recent concerto, written for clarinet, was premiered in 2014.
Over the past few years, Kortekangas has
developed a special affection for chamber music.
“If opera is music’s cream cake, chamber music is
its bread-and-butter. It is a licence and an obligation to engage in musical craftsmanship plain and
simple. To me, communication, the inner dialogue
of the music, is extremely important in chamber
music.” Examples of this ongoing chamber music
phase include Aveux for oboe and string quartet
(2010), a Cello Sonata (2012) and Chops and Swells
for clarinet and string quartet (2014). Works for
period instruments are another interesting departure. The first fruit of this is Crossing the Five Rivers
(2008) for viola da gamba and organ. An important category since the early-2000s has also been
organ music – the weightiest example of this being
the Organ Sonata No. 2, Stargazer, of 2005.
K i m m o K o r h o nen
This is a shortened article published in Fennica Gehrman’s
booklet of Olli Kortekangas
Kortekangas premieres in Helsinki
Jannen salaisuus (Janne’s Secret), children’s opera, libretto by Minna Lindgren
Finnish National Opera, 27.3.2015
The Return, for chamber choir to texts by Wendell Berry
Tapiola Chamber Choir/Hannu Norjanen, 29.3. 2015
Höstlig skärgård, for male choir to texts by Tomas Tranströmer
YL Male Voice Choir/Pasi Hyökki, 11.4. 2015
Photo: Hans Lindén
“Gustav Mahler is supposed to have said
that he wanted his symphonies to contain
the whole world. I am satisfied with the
multifaceted suburb, says Albert Schnelzer.”
In March his ‘Tales from Suburbia’ will have
its world premiere at the Barbican Centre in
London, and ‘A Freak in Burbank’, (another
suburban!), continues to score success
around the world.
Albert Schnelzer’s suburban inspiration
A lbert S chnel z er has lived in the suburb his whole life and admits that he has a kind of
love-hate relation to it.
“But there is no denying that it is a fascinating
and inspiring milieu in many respects. There are
often sharp contrasts where the rural meets the
urban, nature meets concrete, stillness meets the
pulse of the city. There is also a melting pot of
peoples from all over the world.”
Written in 2012, Tales from Suburbia will be
given its first performance by the BBC Symphony
under Kirill Karabits on 13 March, and the
Swedish premiere will follow a couple weeks later
with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and
Daniel Harding, who has also decided to take the
work on tour to the Dresdner Festspiele in May.
“It will be exciting to finally get to hear the piece.
I set my standards high when I wrote it, musically,
but also when it comes to instrumentation, timbre
and treatment of the orchestra. It will be especially
interesting to hear the opening section live, since I
make use of some playing techniques that I have
not tried before, and also an orchestration that
really creates atmosphere. This will be a challenge
for the orchestra as well as for the conductor, but I
am confident that both the BBCSO and the SRSO
are going to bring it off splendidly!”
Eventful 2014
Also 2014 was an eventful and successful year for
Albert Schnelzer. Not least with the concert opener A Freak in Burbank, which during last year was
given no less than 14 performances, and was taken
into the repertoire of nine new orchestras in eight
different countries throughout the world, from the
USA to Australia. And it has been like this for the
past few years.
“What really cheers me up is that so many conductors and orchestras, wholly independent of one
another, are taking up the piece. I have also noticed
that it appeals to a very broad spectrum of listeners, from experienced concertgoers in their 80s to
15-year-old gothic-attired punk rockers. Fascinating! The piece has got a very positive response
especially abroad, at the Proms of course in 2010,
but also at for example the concert with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in France last year, where
the reception was tremendous!”
2014 also saw the premieres of two new works.
The first was Animal Songs, five songs to poems
by Margaret Atwood, composed for soprano
Susanna Andersson and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. Here we encounter a pig, a bull,
a rat, a hen’s head (!) and a worm that all sing their
songs and tell about their lives and their not-veryflattering opinion of us humans.
“The texts were allowed to guide the music
quite a lot”, says Schnelzer. The injured bull in the
Bull Song was given a lament, the cheeky and grotesque Pig Song was a balmy waltz, while the music
to the cruel Song of the Hen´s Head is in contrast to
the text with its bright and idyllic character.
A song of praise and a dirge
Then last autumn came Brain Damage – Concerto
for Orchestra
, a sequel to the cello concerto
Crazy Diamond from 2011. In both these works
Albert Schnelzer has tried to depict how the myth
of Syd Barrett, the founder of Pink Floyd, influenced him as a young composer.
“Brain Damage can be seen as a wandering
through various strong emotional states: anger,
frustration, despair and sorrow; but there is also a
gleam of hope”, says Schnelzer.
Why then has he chosen the classical form of
the concerto for orchestra to depict this?
“It is a tradition-bound form in which the different instrument groups get to perform as soloists, and often with a virtuosic orchestral texture.
For me it was the dialogue between the different
groups and the tension between solo and tutti that
proved to be the most interesting. In an orchestra
there is an intrinsic tension as you have to both
shoulder an individual responsibility and at the
same time be part of a larger group. A bit like life
in general. But what happens to those who can´t
manage this? Like Syd Barret. My work was both a
song of praise for those who shoulder the responsibility and a dirge for those who will never be able
to accomplish it.”
Brain Damage was commissioned jointly by the
Gothenburg Symphony, that premiered the work
under Alain Altinoglu, and the Royal Stockholm
Philharmonic, that will perform it this coming
September with Santtu-Matias Rouvali conducting.
Moreover, this year we can enjoy the premieres
of another two works; an Oboe Concertino for the
inaugural season of the new concert hall Malmö
Live, and the recently finished clarinet concerto,
But Your Angel´s on Holiday, for Staffan Mårtensson
and the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra – to be
premiered in November.
“It is a concerto in three movements that starts
out with ominous chords and a threatening atmosphere. The middle movement is a Lamento that
is vaguely based on a Swedish folk melody and
the third movement is quick, energetic and in
some sections extremely virtuosic,” relates Albert
Schnelzer.
So there are a great many new things to look
forward to in 2015, and then, of course, there will
be a few more performances of his hit work, A
Freak in Burbank, this year as well.
K r istina F r y kl ö f
H i ghl i ghts
3/2015
1
3
Repe r t o i r e tips
REVIEWS
21st century works for solo piano
Inspired by the mystic Swedenborg
and the composer Dowland, Haglund
has written a work in which expressive
outbursts are mixed with enigmatic,
meditative sections, characterised by a great tranquillity and an underlying spirituality. Pianist Hans Pålsson
describes the piece as “10 minutes of wonder, where
something inexplicable is hinted at, smarts, and then
disappears. Music that bears a riddle without intending
to solve it.”
Kimmo Hakola
Theme, 11 Studies and a Grand
Cadenza (1998) Dur: 30’
This work was born of the material for
Hakola’s monumental piano concerto,
for which he had made a comprehensive study of the types of expression used in piano
literature. The result is an exciting musical library from
the depths of which Hakola conjures forth a dazzling
display of keyboard fireworks. Resting on tradition, it
opens up new dimensions and is a demonstration of his
inexhaustible fund of musical magic.
Paavo Heininen
Mazurki Op. 79 A (2001) Dur: 40’
Mazurkas are basically intimately poetic,
says Paavo Heininen. The moods of these
10 mazurkas vary greatly as they test
how far they can go both rhythmically
and harmonically within the genre. The titles and expression
marks reflect the broad scope of the set: mesto, brillante,
lugubre, animato orgoglioso, gentle, straight, etc.
Jyrki Linjama
Sonata da chiesa (2010) Dur: 14’
This four-movement Sonata followed
in the wake of Linjama’s church opera
Die Geburt des Täufers and reflects it in
many ways. Medieval motifs combine
with diverse handling of the piano that reaches out in different directions: from meditative Psalm format to solemn bell
sounds and from virtuosic density to internalised polyphony.
Commissioned by the Carinthischer Sommer and premiered by Juho Pohjonen in Ossiach on 13 July 2010.
Rolf Martinsson
Aquarius/Taurus (2006/2011) Dur: 7’/7’
Aquarius and Taurus are the two latest
pieces (nos. 9 and 10) in Martinsson´s
Zodiac series, where he lets the astrological signs influence the character
of each piano piece. Aquarius is independent, imaginative and inventive, while Taurus is a little slow, calm,
confident and down-to-earth. Martinsson says that the
pieces in the series should be considered noted-down
improvisations that embrace what is lively and spontaneous rather than what is structured and worked out.
H i ghl i ghts
1/2015
Veli-Matti Puumala
Hommages fugitifs (2001) Dur: 13’
These 9 preludes for piano were commissioned by the Sibelius Academy for
the Helsinki International Maj Lind Piano Competition 2002. Portraits to which
characteristics of different persons provided substance,
they can be played in any order or in different combinations with the exception of Anna, which is intended to be
played first.
Albert Schnelzer
Dance with the Devil
(2000) Dur: 8’
Albert Schnelzer himself has described
– quite aptly – this piece as a cross between Franz Liszt and Iron Maiden. And
one can indeed clearly hear the influences from hard rock, even though this piece also includes
a very beautiful and still middle section. But to sum up,
this is a very rhythmical, danceable and virtuosic work that
really utilises the entire gamut of the piano and its sound
possibilities.
Martin Skafte
Twelve Preludes
(2012/2013) Dur: 35’
In his piano suite Martin Skafte mirrors
himself in French music in a profoundly
original manner, inspired in various ways
by Debussy´s Préludes: premier livre. He
further develops Debussy´s ideas but with his own fantasy
and modern musical creativity in focus. The suite is intended
to be performed in its entirety.
Staffan Storm
Lied vom Meer
(2009) Dur: 15’
This four-movement work is based on
Rilke’s poem Lied vom Meer, and the
work’s form and melodic patterns follow
those of the poem. Storm describes this
as a musical reading of the text. The music has an impressionistic tinge, especially in the exquisite final movement
…im Mondschein… where Storm lets the melodies and
harmonies flow; but he ends in the sea, black as night, in
the lowest register of the piano, rumbling softly.
Victoria Yagling
Five Miniatures for Piano (2002)
Dur: 10’
A suite of five short piano pieces of a
lyrical nature dedicated to Yagling’s son
Victor Chestopal. The early movements,
in particular, are airy and dreamily beautiful. The music of
Yagling nevertheless always has a modicum of fresh energy,
pungency and temperament, as represented in this set of
miniatures above all by the last movement, Allegro con brio.
Lisa Larsson
Unashamedly enjoyable
Rolf Martinsson’s brand-new song suite Ich denke
Dein... offered unusually expressive and full music,
post-Straussian expression has seldom been this
strong… Nonetheless, it was musical sensations à la
Broadway which the Malmö professor holds dearest
to his heart... One can only be amazed at how
Martinsson had both the guts and the skill to write
like this.
Hufvudstadsbladet 29.1.
That someone dares to write so unashamedly enjoyable, sinfully sexy music… the listener felt as if he was
being led into an enchanted garden, where an angel
had fallen from heaven. Larsson’s soprano radiated
and floated, and was sublime in the pianissimos.
Helsingin Sanomat 30.1.
Rolf Martinsson: Ich denke Dein...
Finnish premiere: Helsinki PO/John Storgårds, sol. Lisa Larsson,
soprano, 28.1.2015 Helsinki, Finland
Simply beautiful
Amazing and astonishing are the words that first
spring to mind in the piano music of Kalevi Aho…
The Sonatina is wonderfully rhythmic and powerful,
simply fascinating...The music is full of colours and
rich in character and grand emotions.
Hufvudstadsbladet 10.12.
Kalevi Aho: Works for Solo Piano
CD: Sonja Fräki, piano (BIS-SACD-2106)
Theatrical, provocative, brilliant
The show turned out to be professionally impeccable,
artistically convincing and eventually became perhaps the most spectacular autumn event in Finnish
theatre…The contrasting emotions, tragicomic
situations, the scale of the characters in winning
Mexican hues have turned out to be a strong framework for a complete, sophisticated and modern
opera…Kalevi Aho’s music is a holistic, rich musical
canvas…he masters both caustic irony, even the
grotesque, and genuine lyricism.
Сцена (The Stage) No. 6, December 2014
Kalevi Aho: Frida y Diego, opera in four acts
World premiere: Sibelius Academy SO/Markus Lehtinen, dir. Vilppu
Kiljunen, sol. Erica Back, Matias Haakana, Aule Urb, Sampo Haapaniemi, Saara Kiiveri etc., 17.10.2014 Helsinki, Finland
Photo: Merlijn Doomernik
Tommie Haglund
Arcana – Lachrimae (1998) Dur: 12’
Action-packed Polar Vortex
Staern lets the mercury fall to Arctic chill and the winds whip us in the face. The music is alive and puls
ating… It is impossible not to be gripped, not to be swept along. The three percussionists work intensely,
change places with one another and use a whole arsenal of percussion instruments, creating sound
images and atmosphere. It is playful, fun, beautiful.
Arbetarbladet 15.11.
A work that is typically Staernian, brilliantly colourful and positively full of action.
Gefle Dagblad 15.11.
Benjamin Staern: Polar Vortex
Sonorous new songs for male choir
Dialogue between light and shade
The new item in the concert was the three-movement choral work Isoisän runoja (Grandfather’s
Poems), settings of poems by Lassi Nummi.
And amiably grandfatherly and gently humorous
these sonorous songs are.
Helsingin Sanomat 16.11.
Mikko Heiniö: Isoisän lauluja
The main number was Kai Nieminen’s string quartet…
Nieminen himself spoke of the winter darkness and
the stars in the sky, the way time travels in darkness
and light imperceptibly grows. Despite the proximity
of death, the quartet also opened the gates to heaven.
Pohjolan Sanomat 3.12.
Kai Nieminen: Towards the Light (from far beyond)
World premiere: Laulu-Miehet/Matti Hyökki,
15.11.2014 Helsinki, Finland
World premiere: Länsi-Pohja String Quartet, 26.11.2014 Keminmaa,
Finland
Photo: Arild Juul
World premiere: Gävle SO/Leif Segerstam, 14.11.2014 Gävle, Sweden
Öystein Baadsvik
Concert of works by Lyytikäinen
Rosenberg and Lidholm in UK
The music is rewarding to listen to and carefully
crafted… Jiän iänj – The Sound of Ice was one of the
finest items in the concert. The timbres forged from
the accordion are rich, the melodies beautiful and
the full bellows are used expressively.
Hufvudstadsbladet 25.1.
Pasi Lyytikäinen: Songs, Minimalto, Jiän Iänj
Hilding Rosenberg’s Dance Suite from his ballet,
Orpheus in Town, was the jaunty, jazzy opener,
with its seven dances making the penultimate slow
tango stand out for its sexier lilt… Andersson
created most impact with Lidholm’s Kontakion from
1978, based on the same Russian liturgical hymn
as Britten used in his Third Cello Suite. Out of long
sections of tense strings emerged a series of wind
solos, dying away after the final offstage trumpet.
A work of apparent austerity carried humanity at
its heart.
The Guardian 21.1.
Hilding Rosenberg: Dance Suite from Orpheus in Town
Ingvar Lidholm: Kontakion
Kiril Kozlovsky, piano, Eija Räsänen, soprano, Eero Saunamäki, alto
recorder, Mika Väyrynen, accordion, 24.1.2015 Helsinki, Finland
photo: Sten D. Bellander
Pasi Lyytikäinen
photo: Bror Karlsson
Photo: Octavian Balea
When the tuba becomes a mistress
BBC National Orchestra of Wales/B Tommy Andersson, 20.1.2015
Cardiff, Wales
There is no doubt about it that the tuba can be a
vivacious mistress. So intimately did Baadsvik´s
arms embrace the silvery, shining instrument; so
sensitively did his lips enclose that fantastic piece
of brass to create delightful, delicate sonorities…
Again and again the tuba sang with heart-rending
beauty, having survived its struggle with the massive
orchestra… The audience´s enthusiasm knew no
bounds when Baadsvik concluded with a charming
and exquisite dance with his playmate.
Rheinische Post 16.1.
Fredrik Högberg: Rocky Island Boat Bat
German premiere: Niederrheinsche Sinfoniker/Mihkel Kütson, sol.
Øystein Baadsvik, tuba, 9.1.2015 Krefeld, Germany
Humour and seriousness
in Högberg’s concerto
Accordion King is a multi-art-work; the images function
in a dynamic interplay with the music, and contribute
commentary and complementary elements in Fredrik´s
inimitable and humoristic fashion. But the work
also comprises seriousness, vertiginous beauty and
sensual eroticism.
Allehanda 23.1.
Fredrik Högberg: Accordion King
World premiere: Nordic CO/Niklas Willén, sol. Jörgen Sundeqvist,
accordion, 22.1.2015 Kramfors, Sweden
Photo: Erik Berg
Peer Gynt – an opera of undoubted significance
Jüri Reinvere’s work has a maturity that gave an
irrefragable confidence to director Sigrid Strøm Reibo.
A brilliant, largely Norwegian cast, created a performance of strength and sophistication…Visually the
production matched the quality and exuberance of
the music…This is a work of undoubted significance
that deserves a place in Norway’s contemporary
cultural landscape.
Opera Now, February 2015
There are fragmentary references to Wagner and
Grieg, but for the most part, Reinvere makes his
own music, often meditative, sometimes witty,
always deftly orchestrated…This new Peer Gynt
is sprawlingly ambitious and dark. Reinvere’s
eclectic appropriation of musical styles is adroit,
his use of the chorus haunting, his vocal writing
polished, his humour rare but effective.
Financial Times 2.12.
Reinvere has masterly crafted a narrative opera with
lush string sounds and cantabile winds, broad arches,
magnificent climaxes which he gently modernises…
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 2.12.
Jüri Reinvere: Peer Gynt, opera in 2 acts
World premiere: Norwegian National Opera/John Helmer Fiore,
sol. Nils Harald Sødal, Marita Sølberg, Ingebjørg Kosmo etc.,
29.11.2014 Oslo, Norway
H i ghl i ghts
1/2015
new p u b licati o ns
S COR E S
SELIM PALMGREN
BENJAMIN STAERN
FREDRIK HÖGBERG
Konzert für zwei Posaunen
Polar Vortex – Symphony No. 1
Lullaby (Kehtolaulu) Op. 17 No. 9
GE 12605
FG 55011-232-2 8
(score and parts: 33221)
for string orchestra
for orchestra
version for two trombones and
chamber orchestra
GE 12196
JONAS VALFRIDSSON
SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM
Available again! This is Palmgren’s own
arrangement of the popular cradle song
from his 24 piano preludes. Its haunting,
restful melody is given a richly harmonious
treatment in this version which is equally
at home in a wide variety of
concert programmes.
A Fragmented Memory;
My Overgrown Little
Tree House
Lyssnande/Listening
for chamber ensemble
GE12581
for orchestra
ROBERT SCHUMANN
(ARR. ROLF MARTINSSON)
A Sudden Recollection:
Le jardin des plantes
GE 12320
From “Five Pieces in Folk Style, op 102”
Piece 1, 2 and 5 in arrangement
for solo clarinet and chamber orchestra
for orchestra
GE 12462
GE 12618
C H A M B E R / IN S T R U M E N T A L
C H OR A L
KARIN REHNQVIST
MIKKO HEINIÖ
Salve Regina – Heavenly Queen
Five Preludes for Guitar
for choir SATB and chamber ensemble
Text: Marian Hymn (Lat)
FG 55011-227-8
FREDRIK HÖGBERG
Arbetar-Malins Vals/Worker-Malin’s Waltz
for accordion solo
Waltz from Accordion King
GE 11934 (score) GE 12229 (particel)
SVEN-DAVID SANDSTRÖM
Dödsskepp i natten
Trolltuba
for tenor, mixed chorus and orchestra
Text: Lars Ragnar Forssberg (Swe)
GE 11598
Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte
BJÖRN J:SON LINDH
(ARR. OSKAR JANNER)
GE 12573
GE 12625
GE 12569 (score)
version for tuba and piano
for tenor solo, male choir TBarB, violin
Text: Johan Ludvig Runeberg (Swe)
Lake District
KALEVI AHO
for organ
Kolme laulua Mawlana Rumin runoihin
(Three Songs to Texts by Mawlana Rumi)
GE 12599
for mixed choir
Text in Finnish
TOIVO KUULA
Three Pieces for Violoncello
(Kolme sellokappaletta)
FG 55011-231-5
1. Melodia lugubre op. 17b/8
2. Chanson sans paroles op. 22/1b
3. Suru op. 22/2b
NILS-ERIC FOUGSTEDT
(ARR. REIJO KEKKONEN)
Romanssi (Romance)
FG 55011-226-1
for mixed choir
Text in Finnish
JYRKI LINJAMA
Veni redemptor gentium
FG 55009-666-0
for organ
FG 55011-230-8
Orchestrated Larsson Songs
SAMUEL LUNDBACK
Preludium in G major
Three Songs from Lars-Erik Larsson’s
Nine Songs op. 35
for organ
GE 12590
ROLF MARTINSSON
(ARR. JOHAN GUSTAFSSON)
Intermezzo from St Luke Passion
for organ
GE 12369
HUBERT PARRY (ARR. OSKAR JANNER)
Jerusalem
Text: Hjalmar Gullberg
• Serenad
• Jag väntar månen
• Kyssande vind
New arrangements by Martin Willert
for soprano/baritone and orchestra
Instrumentation: 2222-2210-timp-hp-strings
for organ
GE 12598
Orchestral material available
on hire as from March
For further information about our works or representatives worldwide check our web sites or contact us at:
Gehrmans Musikförlag AB
H i ghl i ghts
3/2012
Box 42026, SE-126 12 Stockholm, Sweden
Tel. +46 8 610 06 00 • Fax +46 8 610 06 27
www.gehrmans.se • [email protected]
Hire: [email protected]
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Sales: [email protected]
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PO Box 158, FI-00121 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 10 3871 220 • Fax +358 10 3871 221
www.fennicagehrman.fi • [email protected]
Hire: [email protected]
Web shop: www.fennicagehrman.fi
Sales: [email protected] (dealers)