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Rautavaara’s death leaves a huge void in Finnish contemporary music

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« on: October 02, 2016, 07:17:52 pm »

Human being and teacher

Rautavaara was a tolerant teacher. He never tried to impose his own style and ideology of composition on his students or cut them down to size; he always took the student’s perspective and supported their psychological development. He inquired what the student wanted to say with a piece, what its aim was. Having received an answer, he then gave a critical appraisal of the work from the student’s perspective, meaning an appraisal of how well the student had managed to execute the intended vision using the means available at the time. Rautavaara stressed that there must be a vision underlying every work, that composing must not comprise merely the mechanical resolution of abstract musical problems.

Rautavaara’s teaching was far from academic. In my composition lessons, the discussions were about much more than just music, such as literature, philosophy and even politics. Einojuhani was a widely read and educated man with an excellent, somewhat sarcastic sense of humour. You had to focus when talking to him. Composition lessons turned out to be a school of intellectual development for me.

Occasionally Einojuhani sank into a phlegmatic mood, perhaps contemplating his own music as he sat and rolled his eyes. By contrast, he also had a fiery and unyielding side to him, as we may read in his autobiography.

 
Legacy

Rautavaara did not make his international breakthrough until the 1990s, but today he must be the most frequently performed Finnish contemporary composer, both in Finland and abroad. Many composers fade into obscurity when they die, but my firm belief is that Rautavaara will not suffer this fate; his works will remain in the core repertoire, and he will endure as a major classic in Finnish music.

There are several reasons for this. Firstly, Rautavaara’s works are always highly original, never sounding like typical contemporary music. Secondly, they are not technically over-demanding, meaning that they can be performed within the confines of a normal rehearsal schedule. Thirdly, his output is huge and includes works in all genres and for many different kinds of ensembles. His extensive output of choral and vocal music is particularly noteworthy. Fourthly, his output includes a handful of major hits: Cantus Arcticus for birds and orchestra, the Seventh Symphony (Angel of Light), several choral works, some piano cycles, and so on, and these serve as gateways to a wider exploration of his music.

His internationally most successful operas are Vincent (1985–1987) and Auringon talo (House of the Sun, 1989–1990). His first opera, Kaivos (The Mine, 1957–1963), based on the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, is to be performed in Hungary in autumn 2016. Rasputin (2001–2003) has been produced in Lübeck and also has potential for wider international appeal.

Rautavaara said that he only wrote music for himself and that he preferred to live in his own blissful seclusion, inhabiting a world created by himself. He also remarked that a composer should not attempt to follow the times, because following the times means by default that you are behind the times. In reality, however, Rautavaara was not completely aloof from the real world; on a number of occasions he took a very clear political stand, as in the opera Kaivos. Also, in some works written in the 1960s he embraced the modernist ideals of the era before abandoning them in favour of a different approach.

Rautavaara never engendered a school of composers; his style is not and should not be imitated by anyone. His original output and considerable success serve to remind us of a principle of his that applies to all composers of whichever generation: “Dare to be yourself in your music.”

His death leaves a huge, Rautavaara-shaped void in the Finnish creative musical arts.

 

Kalevi Aho is a renowned Finnish contemporary composer who studied under Einojuhani Rautavaara in 1969–1971.

Translation: Jaakko Mäntyjärvi

This article is based on an article published by the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle in July (in Finnish).

See also Rautavaara’s interview in FMQ 3/2008.

 
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