Si­be­li­us - Ravel - Rau­ta­vaa­ra

Reluctant to set a text to music, Finnish composer Rautavaara composed a concerto for orchestra and recorded bird calls – the Cantus Arcticus – in which landscape is transformed into music. It was not the forests of Northern Europe, but rather the Basque Country that Maurice Ravel had in his mind’s ear when he composed his Piano Concerto in G Major. Yet his passion for jazz and blues also lent this piece a distinctly American flavour. When Sibelius championed the budding career of Einojuhani Rautavaara in the 1950s, more than 50 years had already passed since he composed his First Symphony. In that work, no birds sing; instead, the composer grapples with nature and with himself, wrestling with the contradictions of life and of his own personality.

PROGRAMME:
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus
Maurice Ravel: Klavierkonzert G-Dur
Jean Sibelius: Sinfonie Nr. 1

Photo © Simon Pauly