# Anyone familiar with Kalevi Aho?



## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Known to be one of the major Finnish composers on the scene today, very prolific having written 14 symphonies, several operas, concerti, chamber works. Writes in various styles also, from neo-classical to more post-modernistic ways. I haven't heard any of his works, but he seems to be quite something. Anyone familiar with him?

~WV


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## LvB (Nov 21, 2008)

I got some flak for suggesting, in another thread, that Aho is one of the most important symphonists, but I stand by the assessment. The range of expression and complexity in his symphonies is as great as almost any modern symphonist known to me, and greater than most. He is very good at starting from traditional sounds and ending up somewhere quite unexpected (listen to the _Presto_ from the first symphony, for example, in which the opening violin writing sounds, for a few moments, like Bach or Vivaldi but is quickly engulfed by clumps of agitated brass and whirring winds, which eventually take over altogether before the eerie ending, which plays, slowly, with the same material; it's quite simple yet highly varied).

For the best sense of Aho's range, I would recommend starting with a particular CD: the second and seventh symphonies performed by the Lahti Symphony conducted by Osmo Vanska, on the BIS label. The second symphony is in one rather Shostakovitchian movement, with good deal of very rich string writing and some gigantic climaxes, but the way it fades out on twitchy flute notes, not so much ending as dissolving, is pure Aho. The six movement seventh symphony (to my mind the best of Aho's symphonies, though I don't know them all), known as the "Insect Symphony" (it is based on music from his opera_Insect Life_) is astonishingly varied, yet it all hold together. The fragmentary first movement starts with all sorts of percussion (including flexatone) interrupting low brass rumblings before becoming somewhat grander and more colorful. The second movement is a strangely jumpy foxtrot (quite amusing). The third movement is dramatic is a cinematic sense (how can you not like a movement entitled "The Dung Beetle (Grief Over the Stolen Ball of Dung)")? The fourth movement is skittish, with much delicate wind and string writing. The fifth movement (Ants) is built around marches, with a lot of barbaric brutality (snarling brass, gong scrapes, string glissandi, etc.). The sixth movement, which is slow, is absolutely beautiful; I was in tears when I first heard it.

Aho covers a wide range in his scores, but I don't believe that the music is at all inaccessible. It's unmistakeably modern, yet grounded in tradition and familiar sounds, with much writing which will connect with anyone who likes Prokofiev, Shostakovitch, or Mahler. I recommend his music highly.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

Ok, thanks for this. I'll look at the 2nd and 7th. Are you familiar with the CD including the 9th symphony and the cello concerto? I'm asking this primarily because two of my friends play trombone and cello, so I'm curious as to how this works out.

I've also heard of a viola concerto, but I haven't seen it recorded.


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## EarlyCuyler (Mar 28, 2009)

Check out his Clarinet Concerto. Martin Frost is the soloist with Lahti/Vanska. Amazing piece, and Frost will blow you away.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

EarlyCuyler said:


> Check out his Clarinet Concerto. Martin Frost is the soloist with Lahti/Vanska. Amazing piece, and Frost will blow you away.


I have seen this CD also; the pairing looks interesting too, with the Nielsen concerto also there. Another thing to check out... great.


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## LvB (Nov 21, 2008)

World Violist said:


> Are you familiar with the CD including the 9th symphony and the cello concerto? I'm asking this primarily because two of my friends play trombone and cello, so I'm curious as to how this works out.


I don't know this particular recording, but I have heard the 9th Symphony live twice. The most striking element in it is that Aho has the trombonist switch back and forth from trombone to sackbut. II suspect your friend would find the piece quite interesting; as to your own reaction, it depends on how you feel about lots of trombone, often at extreme registers....  . Other wise, it's a fairly typical Aho piece, if there is such a thing.


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## World Violist (May 31, 2007)

I read this snippet about the cello concerto:

"The cataclysmic Cello Concerto was written ten years earlier. Here, Aho has composed an Armageddon whose outcome is total annihilation. Aho's instrumentation is dense and complicated; besides the cello and the main orchestra, an organ and an "anti-orchestra" (accordion, mandolin, saxophone, tuba, and side drum) also play important roles in the musical conflict. The two movements each last a little less than a quarter of an hour. The concerto's opening is benign enough, but violent outbursts soon break the peace and recur at frequent intervals. Some of these outbursts might eject you out of your listening chair - try the opening of the second movement. The concerto's coda is quiet but hardly peaceful. In it, the sonic landscape is figuratively littered with broken instruments that mankind has forgotten how to play, or no longer cares to. The "world" of Aho's Cello Concerto ends with squawking, squeaking, and bitter snickering. This is a powerful, uneasy listening experience."

Sounds like Sibelius from the 21st century on a bad day and his old throat tumor... haha.


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