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CD Reviews
Einojuhani Rautavaara
A couple of years ago I made a discovery - admittedly one
made by several thousand people before me, but a discovery nonetheless. The
revelation of which I am speaking is the music of the contemporary Finnish
composer Einojuhani Rautavaara.
In my opinion, Rautavaara is the greatest composer alive today. He has
'been there, done that' when it comes to just about
every major musical trend of the late 20th century, including serialism,
avant-garde gimmickry, and minimalism. Although the compositions in those styles
are not without their merits, the idiom for which he
is most famous is a kind of sweeping, progressive neo-Romanticism which is best
described
as a synthesis of elements of Bruckner, Messiaen, Copland, and Sibelius.
Rautavaara's harmonic language is basically tonal, but highly original -
in particular, his penchant for extraordinary harmonic sequences which seem to
spiral endlessly is very distinctive. He likes luscious orchestrations, and
his grasp of large-scale symphonic structures is second to none amongst
contemporary composers.
His music is often described as 'spiritual', which it certainly is - but in
a Palestrinian-Brucknerian sense; its intellectual rigour provides a refreshing
contrast to the self-indulgent wallowing
of the New Age 'spiritual minimalists', Paert and Taverner.
Here are some of the essential purchases for your Rautavaara collection.
I hope to add reviews of these releases soon.
Angel of Light (Seventh Symphony), with Leif Segerstam and the Helsinki
Philharmonic
The Third Piano Concerto and Autumn Gardens, with Ashkenazy and the
Helsinki Philharmonic
Cantus Arcticus, the First Piano Concerto, and the Third Symphony - great
value on Naxos
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