Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

Eclectic Finnish Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara Dies At 87

By Tom Huizenga | NPR
Thursday, July 28, 2016

Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, photographed in Helsinki in October, 2014.

Martti Kainulainen / AFP/Getty Images

Einojuhani Rautavaara, often hailed as Finland's finest composer since Jean Sibelius, has died at age 87. The Associated Press reports that Rautavaara died Wednesday in Helsinki after complications from hip surgery.

A prolific artist, Rautavaara produced a wide range of works including nine operas, eight symphonies, numerous concertos, choral works and chamber music.

He was also versatile. In the 1950s, he dabbled in a kind of Stravinskian neoclassical sound. The 1960s brought about experiments in 12-tone techniques, while the following decade found elements of jazz and romanticism entering his music. His 1972 orchestral work Cantus arcticus has become a signature piece, featuring birdcalls he recorded himself in northern Finland. A trilogy of so-called "Angel" works, culminating with the Seventh Symphony ("Angel of Light"), introduced a melodically accessible and mystical final phase of Rautavaara's music.

Rautavaara was born Oct. 9, 1928 in Helsinki. He started as a pianist and musicology student at the University of Helsinki, receiving a second degree in composition from the Sibelius Academy. In the 1950s, Sibelius, the father figure of Finnish music, called Rautavaara the most promising young composer in Finland and facilitated studies at Juilliard and Tanglewood with Aaron Copland and Roger Sessions.

"Maybe the most important experience was to live in Manhattan," Rautavaara told NPR in 1998. "It taught much more about life to me than all those teachers about music." In 2004, Rautavaara paid tribute to his New York days with an orchestral work, Manhattan Trilogy.

Rautavaara became a teacher himself — a lecturer, then a professor at the Sibelius Academy. Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vänskä, who knew Rautavaara and conducts his works, says the composer was not a disciplinarian when it came to playing his music.

"He always listened to the opinions of the performers," Vänskä said in a telephone conversation Thursday. "He wanted to give very free hands for you to find your way."

One of Rautavaara's first stylistic changes came in the mid-1960s, after the Fourth Symphony. "He was a tighter-minded composer in the 1950s," Vänskä said. "He felt that he had just done enough with that type of serial music and wanted to open his mind."

Another shift came in the 1980s, when he found his second wife. "It was obvious the second marriage changed his life," Vänskä said. "That was a happy time in his life and you can hear that in his music."

Although Rautavaara's music routinely took on a serious tone, he cultivated a sense of humor.

The "Angel of Light" symphony was about angels, but Vänskä recalled the composer explaining, "We have to remember that there are not only white angels but there are black angels too," and tacking on an evil little cackle. The symphony was commissioned by the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 1995. Four years later Rautavaara fulfilled another American commission, composing his Eighth Symphony for the centenary of the Philadelphia Orchestra.

With an assortment of styles over many decades where does someone new to Rautavaara's music start? Vänskä has some ideas. From the earlier works, Vänskä recommends A Requiem in Our Time, a piece for brass ensemble that won the Thor Johnson Contest in 1954 and brought the composer some international acclaim. "It's a piece I've conducted many times," Vänskä says. "It has this kind of drama, but it's always speaking to the audience."

Vänskä's favorite remains the Cantus arcticus: "It's such a revolutionary idea, to go and record the birds and make them perform with an orchestra in a concert hall."

In 2004, Rautavaara nearly died from a torn aorta, spending months in a hospital. He eventually rebounded, saying his commissions were keeping him alive. Along with many commissions, Rautavaara had strong support from the Finnish government, which named him an arts professor and paid him not to teach but only to compose.

In 2000, sitting in his garden outside Helsinki, Rautavaara told NPR that what really fueled his music was passion. "To be a composer, you have to be a fanatic," he said. "You have to feel that composing is your mode of existence."

Rautavaara was working on a new opera when he died. He is survived by his wife, soprano Sinikka Rautaavara, and three children.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

View this story on npr.org


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

Most Viewed

Sacramento plans to debut hundreds of tiny homes. Will they help people move off the streets?

State may scale down its new home loan program designed to assist first-time homebuyers

Assembly approves oil profit penalty bill, sending it to Newsom

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

The Sacramento Kings could clinch a spot in the playoffs Monday night. Here’s how.

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a Tip / Story Idea
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.