Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Cantus Arcticus

Finnish Music Rautavaara & Sibelius on KWAX

‘Tis the season of bitter temperatures and falling snow – or it should be. Keep your spirits up and feather your nest, this week on “The Lost Chord,” with music inspired by Finland’s avian life.

Einojuhani Rautavaara’s concerto for birdsong and orchestra, “Cantus Arcticus,” from 1972, incorporates tape recordings made by the composer on the bogs of Liminka, near the Arctic Circle. More than just a gimmick, the piece is an inspiring triptych that manages to transcend its potentially New Age conceit. The work falls into three movements: “The Bog,” “Melancholy,” and “Swans Migrating.” The final movement takes the form of a long crescendo for orchestra, and incorporates the songs of whooper swans.

Jean Sibelius’ uplifting Symphony No. 5 culminates in a grand theme inspired by swans in flight around his home on the shores of Lake Tuusula in Järvenpää. The symphony is standard repertoire, but we’ll hear it as it was first performed in 1915, before it was substantially revised to become the masterwork we know today.

Encountering the Fifth in its original guise illuminates the composer’s remarkable clarity of purpose, uncanny objectivity, and iron will in reshaping his raw materials to achieve a loftier, definitive vision. It’s not for nothing that Sibelius was described by one critic as “a great artist whose imagination has the wings of an eagle.”

Take flight with Finnish music. I hope you’ll join me for “Snow Birds,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for those of you listening in the East. Here are the respective air-times for all three of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM ON THE EAST COAST)

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM ON THE EAST COAST)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM ON THE EAST COAST)

Stream all three, at the times indicated, by following the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

January 6, 2024
Remembering Finnish Composer Rautavaara

The great Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara was born on this date in 1928. In his later years, he was rightly regarded as one of the world’s great composers, the grand old man of Finnish music and the spiritual heir of Jean Sibelius. As a young man, he had actually worked as Sibelius’ chauffeur! In all, he composed eight symphonies, nine operas, 14 concertos, and dozens of other orchestral and vocal compositions. After he died in 2017 at the age of 87, I presented a five-hour marathon of his music on WPRB Princeton.

I was lucky to meet him once, in 2000, backstage at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music, prior to the first performance of his Symphony No. 8. He was kind enough to sign my Naxos CD of his Symphony No. 3, the Piano Concerto No. 1, and the so-called concerto for birds and orchestra “Cantus Arcticus.” I wonder what he thought of this peculiar, 33-year-old, American fan?

Here’s a performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1, with my recent acquaintance, Yifei Xu of the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, as the soloist.

The Philadelphia Orchestra touring Rautavaara’s Symphony No. 8, “The Journey.” I didn’t even know this video existed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llL8YGvVkkc

“Cantus Arcticus,” with bird songs recorded by the composer in the bogs of Liminka, near the Arctic Circle:

PHOTO: Ross and Rautavaara. Holding the camera: Sibelius’ grandson, the filmmaker Anssi Blomstedt!

A more complete account here:

October 9, 2023
Finnish Birdsong Music This Sunday

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” in this season of bitter temperatures and falling snow, keep your spirits up with music inspired by Finland’s avian life.

Einojuhani Rautavaara’s concerto for birdsong and orchestra, “Cantus Arcticus,” from 1972, incorporates tape recordings made by the composer on the bogs of Liminka, near the Arctic Circle. More than just a gimmick, the piece is an inspiring triptych that manages to transcend its potentially New Age conceit. The work falls into three movements: “The Bog,” “Melancholy,” and “Swans Migrating.” The final movement takes the form of a long crescendo for orchestra, and incorporates the songs of whooper swans.

Jean Sibelius’ uplifting Symphony No. 5 culminates in a grand theme inspired by swans in flight around his home on the shores of Lake Tuusula in Järvenpää. The symphony is standard repertoire, but we’ll hear it as it was first performed in 1915, before it was substantially revised to become the masterwork we know today.

Encountering the Fifth in its original guise illuminates the composer’s remarkable clarity of purpose, uncanny objectivity, and iron will in reshaping his raw materials to achieve a loftier, definitive vision. It’s not for nothing that Sibelius was described by one critic as “a great artist whose imagination has the wings of an eagle.”

Take flight with Finnish music. Join me for “Snow Birds,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

January 31, 2021
Rautavaara Challenge 5 Hours of Finnish Music

Get ready for the Rautavaara Challenge!

The great Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara died on July 27 at the age of 87. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks, but tomorrow morning on WPRB, I’ll finally give the master his due, with FIVE BLESSED HOURS devoted to his music.

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, composed eight symphonies, nine operas, 14 concertos, and dozens of other orchestral and vocal compositions.

How much Rautavaara is too much Rautavaara? We’re soon to find out. Scoff at the excessive heat warning with five hours of music from Finland (including Rautavaara’s “Cantus Arcticus”), tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 EDT, on WPRB 103.3 FM and at wprb.com. We’re cool to the Finnish, on Classic Ross Amico.

August 10, 2016

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