Rautavaara: On the Last Frontier
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Einojuhani RautavaaraConductor: Leif Segerstam
Performer: Patrick Gallois
Orchestra: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1999-04-13
Music Label: Ondine
Soundtracks:
- Anadyomene
- Flute Concerto, Op. 63 (Dances With The Winds, 1975): I. Andantino
- Flute Concerto, Op. 63 (Dances With The Winds, 1975): 2. Vivace
- Flute Concerto, Op. 63 (Dances With The Winds, 1975): 3. Andante moderato
- Flute Concerto, Op. 63 (Dances With The Winds, 1975): 4. Allegro
- A Fantasy For Chorus And Orchestra, 1997: On The Last Frontier
Free Music Notes for Rautavaara: On the Last Frontier
Free Music Review: More generally vacuous works by this composer who's been rewriting the same piece for decades
Hit: 2 Stars
The Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara has won much praise in recent years for a few of his orchestral work where strong triadic harmony and a mystical programmatic basis prevail. Look deeper into his work, and you'll start to notice he's been writing more or less the same piece over and over again for decades. This Ondine disc from 1999 is a good example. Leif Segerstam leads the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.
In the liner notes, Rautavaara explains that he initially intended his 1968 orchestral work "Anadyomene (Adoration of Aphrodite)" to be based on a strict plan snobbishly based on Joyce's FINNEGANS WAKE. However, he claims, the music refused to stick to a preordained plan and went off into flights of fancy. The result regrettably ends up being yet another of Rautavaara's vacuous works. I'd suggest that the composer went with his inspiration not because it was so powerful, but because it is so easy to write major triads above a pedal point for twelve minutes instead of producing much of substance.
The Flute Concerto "Dances with the Winds" was written in 1973. Over its four movements, Rautavaara has the soloist play four different types of flutes (piccolo, standard, alto flute in G, and bass flute). As is common with Rautavaara concertos, there's not much virtuosity for the soloist (here Patrick Gallois). Nor is there any kind of "individual against the masses" or similar drama as in the concertos of Carter, Schnittke, or Gubaidulina. Instead, it's just the same music as in most Rautavaara works, just with the flute often being the only instrument heard. There's a distinct lack of direction, and the piece ends at a peculiarly inappropriate moment.
The fantasy for chorus and orchestra "On the Last Frontier" (1997) initially enters further into vacuity, with the first several minutes completely indistinguishable from the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. Once the chorus enters we get something fresh, and for most of the work there's enough variety in orchestration and the text itself to make this fairly entertaining. While I don't think it's worth recommending the disc for, it's at least comforting to think that anyone who might buy it aren't setting themselves up for total disappointment.
In my opinion, fans of contemporary music should seek out only two of Rautavaara's works. The first is the Symphony No. 3, where a peculiar application of twelve-tone serialism surprisingly results in the greatest symphony Bruckner never wrote. The other work is Cantus Arcticus, a gimmicky but entertaining enough fusion of taped birdsong and sinfonietta. Both can be had at budget price on Naxos disc. The rest of his oeuvre is generally disappointing, and even the pieces that are not appallingly empty are average at best.
Rautavaara: On the Last Frontier Poster
During the last decade, Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) has proven himself to be one of this century's greatest composers, standing shoulder to shoulder with Jean Sibelius in the annals of Finnish music. But while Sibelius relied more on melodic structures and thematic development, Rautavaara's musical ideas are advanced through atmospherics. This particular release contains a brilliant flute concerto, a ghostly tone poem (Anadyomene), and a beautiful fantasy for chorus and orchestra (On the Last Frontier). Conductor Leif Segerstam pilots the Helsinki Philharmonic (and flutist Patrick Gallois) through some of Rautavaara's best music here, particularly the flute concerto. Without a doubt this is a major release of classical music this year--and not a bad introduction to this astonishing composer. Very highly recommended. --Paul CookClassical Music CDs
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