Aulis Sallinen

The concerto remains a cornerstone of contemporary music. How do recent recordings reinterpret this classical genre? In this article, Jari Juhani Kallio reviews the latest concerto releases by Finnish composers.

In this new column, composers working in Finland ask each other questions that can be on just about anything: their work, their technique, their philosophy or their career. In this inaugural column, Aulis Sallinen responds to a question from Antti Auvinen, retiring chair of the Society of Finnish Composers. Next time, Aulis Sallinen will present a question to a composer of his choice.

"Art of time requires dramaturgical precision from its creator, and because of this a key tool for the creator is a stopwatch. If a particular section of a composition is too short, it is unable to effectively convey its narrative; if it is too long, it will bore the listener. The aim is always to get the texture to breathe at the appropriate pace, to give it natural motion and clarity," writes composer Aulis Sallinen. This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

The wars fought in the early decades of Finland’s independence cast a long, dark shadow far into the second half of the 20th century. The voice of war in works by Finnish composers speaks of victory, defeat, grief and reconciliation.

Sallinen’s orchestrations are a miracle of restraint, somehow managing to sound entirely appropriate without mimicking Sibelius’s own style: his textures are lighter, with less ‘middle’, and little flashes of colour from winds, brass and harp all bringing an invigorating freshness.

Ville Matvejeff is one of the most successful classical musicians in Finland today. He performs as a conductor and pianist around the world, he is artistic director or musical advisor at festivals, and he has composition commissions lined up for several years to come. His career is exceptionally diverse and wide-ranging.

"You are born with a dramatic pulse, with dramatic thinking, and that's that. I've written now about two-thirds, so I call it a marathon," says composer Aulis Sallinen, whose new opera King Lear will be premiered at the Finnish National Opera on 15 September, 2000.

"His organic music does not form (or grow) in a closed greenhouse, but always in an empathic connection to a wider world, nature and culture. These works are, in a unique way, interestingly novel and strangely familiar at the same time."

"Art should be able to stir us, to wake us from our dreaming and our torpor, so that we should be forced to take a stand on the work and explain to ourselves what it means. If a composition is capable of this, then it has at the same time been able to activate the listener both emotionally and intellectually."