Rautavaara's Riverboat

[Mirror Image]

Listened to most of 7 yesterday... mmm... errr....yea, it sounds like good film music, but, we've all heard this... had it been written in 1926 I would be a little more impressed. I so prefer Kokkonen...

I prefer Sibelius, but that's not important on this thread. Rautavaara wrote some good music. Symphony No. 7 "Angel of Light" is my favorite of his along with the Violin Concerto and Autumn Gardens.

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes:


Einojuhani Rautavaara, Giant Of Beauty: An Obituary

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/07/29/einojuhani-rautavaara-giant-of-beauty-an-obituary

Still better than my obit is this 1996 interview of Martin Anderson's: https://toccataclassics.com/einojuhani-rautavaara-symphonist/

[North Star]

You may wish to edit 'Finish composer' from that obituary. Also, he died on Wednesday, not Thursday.

[jlaurson]

You may wish to edit 'Finish composer' from that obituary. Also, he died on Wednesday, not Thursday.

Whenever death is involved, I drop that "n".

But seriously. Egg. Face. THANK YOU for catching it!!!

[North Star]

Whenever death is involved, I drop that "n".

But seriously. Egg. Face. THANK YOU for catching it!!!

You're welcome. I see the same typo repeated later "Now it is and will be the fate of every Finish composer to be compared to Sibelius–as, for example, with Leevi Madetoja"

[jlaurson]

You're welcome. I see the same typo repeated later "Now it is and will be the fate of every Finish composer to be compared to Sibelius–as, for example, with Leevi Madetoja"

That's been fixed since. I knew well enough to search for "Finish" before I finished editing those mistakes.
More upsettingly, it was also in the cut'n'paste "blurb" -- and although that's been edited, the first version sticks whenever one shares it on some Social Media site... so that blot of bat spellink is here to stay. 

[Rons_talking]

I prefer Sibelius, but that's not important on this thread. Rautavaara wrote some good music. Symphony No. 7 "Angel of Light" is my favorite of his along with the Violin Concerto and Autumn Gardens.

Sorry to hear of his passing. I hate hearing the film-music comparison because it's not viable IMHO. Sure some cues might sound like Rautavaara but discounting some of his post 2000-works (Tapestry of Life, ie) his output is both melodic challenging and modern. Much of his music would be a distraction to the film-goer. It might seem atmospheric, but it's very structured at the macro-level. Most of his works reveal serial underpinnings when his scores are analyzed, but his traditional connection to his fatherland lends his vast output a Finnish. His music for voice is stellar.
One less of my favorites here on Earth.

[nathanb]

My favorite Rautavaara symphony might be the 4th. The 6th is pretty dang cool though.

[snyprrr]

My favorite Rautavaara symphony might be the 4th. The 6th is pretty dang cool though.

Yea, I think I'm preferring his 70s output more...

[Karl Henning]

I'll never know if the friend request on Facebook was one of the last things the composer did in life, or a Facebook hack.

[North Star]

I'll never know if the friend request on Facebook was one of the last things the composer did in life, or a Facebook hack.

Golly!

[Mirror Image]

I'll never know if the friend request on Facebook was one of the last things the composer did in life, or a Facebook hack.

Does Rautavaara have any known relatives or people that were close to him? Perhaps a family member or close friend took over his account and added you? But it is rather curious indeed.

[Rons_talking]

Yea, I think I'm preferring his 70s output more...

Those first three are also excellant.

[king ubu]

Einojuhani Rautavaara (born 9 October 1928; died 27 July 2016)

obit from The Guardian

[nathanb]

Einojuhani Rautavaara (born 9 October 1928; died 27 July 2016)

obit from The Guardian

NOOOO! If we're not meant to have any more new Rautavaara, I hope Ondine will cover anything else they might've missed (a few more operas, at least, surely). The man deserves a complete edition, and of course Ondine has already recorded the majority of his stuff...

R.I.P. Einojuhani. Your music was pure magic. I will solemnly listen to your works today, tomorrow, and so forth, until I feel that I have mourned and grieved sufficiently.

[CRCulver]

NOOOO! If we're not meant to have any more new Rautavaara, I hope Ondine will cover anything else they might've missed (a few more operas, at least, surely).

As far as I know, with the release of Kaivos a few years back, Ondine has now made Rautavaara's complete opera output available on disc. There's even a DVD available of his television opera on O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.

[Karl Henning]

As far as I know, with the release of Kaivos a few years back, Ondine has now made Rautavaara's complete opera output available on disc. There's even a DVD available of his television opera on O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi.

I might call that extraordinary, only of course there is strong institutional support in Finland for living composers.

In the US, that would not be extraordinary; it would be science-fiction 

[North Star]

I might call that extraordinary, only of course there is strong institutional support in Finland for living composers.

In the US, that would not be extraordinary; it would be science-fiction 

And not only for living composers, but for orchestras, operas, and musicians as well, making the performance of more than just warhorses feasible.

[Karl Henning]

And not only for living composers, but for orchestras, operas, and musicians as well, making the performance of more than just warhorses feasible.

I am not envious, that this is true yonder, but not here.

I rejoice that it is true anywhere 

[vandermolen]

Sorry to hear this sad news although he had a long life with increasing recognition.
Symphony 8 'The Journey' is my favourite work of his although I like much else besides.