Okay, this one hurts.

I learn with dismay of the passing of the great Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, who died last night at the age of 87. Rautavaara, widely regarded as one of the world’s great composers, the grand old man of Finnish music, and the spiritual heir of Jean Sibelius, wrote eight symphonies, nine operas, 14 concertos, and dozens of other orchestral and vocal compositions.

By coincidence, I just played his Symphony No. 7, “Angel of Light,” on WWFM – The Classical Network on Tuesday. (Well, perhaps it’s not so much of a coincidence, since I played his “Cantus Arcticus” last week.)

I met Rautavaara once, backstage at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia in 2000, after the premiere of his Symphony No. 8. Somewhere, I’ve got a pre-digital photo of the two of us, me smiling like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. If I can find it, I will post it soon.

R.I.P. Einojuhani Rautavaara. You were one of the best we had.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/28/einojuhani-rautavaara-obituary

The final movement of “Angel of Light”: