Einojuhani Rautavaara - Before the Icons; A Tapestry of Life (Leif Segerstam)

Information

Composer: Einojuhani Rautavaara

1. Before the Icons: I. The Death of the Mother of God
2. Before the Icons: II. Prayer
3. Before the Icons: III. Two Village Saints
4. Before the Icons: IV. Black Madonna of Blakernaya
5. Before the Icons: V. Prayer
6. Before the Icons: VI. The Baptism of Christ
7. Before the Icons: VII. The Holy Women at the Sepulchre
8. Before the Icons: VIII. Prayer
9. Before the Icons: IX. Archangel Michael Fighting the Antichrist
10. Before the Icons: X. Amen
11. A Tapestry of Life: I. Stars Swarming
12. A Tapestry of Life: II. Halcyon Days
13. A Tapestry of Life: III. Sighs and Tears
14. A Tapestry of Life: IV. The Last Polonaise

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
Leif Segerstam, conductor
Date: 2010
Label: Ondine
https://www.ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=2.2&oid=4320

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Review

I have to tell you, at the outset of this review, that I moved to this CD immediately after reading Jack Reilly’s book The Harmony of Bill Evans, Vol. 2 (reviewed elsewhere in this issue) and listening to the accompanying CD, and that I found a great many similarities—more so than differences.

Einojuhan Rautavaara, who many probably do not know is the son of one of the greatest Mozart sopranos of the early 20th century (Aulikki, who sang the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro on the old Glyndebourne recording conducted by Fritz Busch), has always written music in an amorphic style in which mood is as important as form. These works are no exception, and by doing so he allies his sparse melodic structures to the very sort of underlying density in chord progressions that were the heart of Bill Evans’s jazz pieces.

Before the Icons spans a full half-century of composition. Rautavaara wrote a set of six impressions on Byzantine icons for piano in 1955, immediately planned to orchestrate them, but did not get around to it until 2005! At that time, he wrote three “prayers” to go between the icons, scored for strings to reflect the voice of the individual. Some of the iconic pieces are agitated, powerful music, particularly the first ( The Death of the Mother of God ) and last ( Archangel Michael Fighting the Antichrist ), but not always, while the prayers are gentle and reflective. As usual, it’s a fascinating piece, and if he hadn’t revealed its genesis, one would have a hard time imaging a half-century between its two parts.

A Tapestry of Life is based on various poems or stories that influenced him. Again, as the music is impressionistic, it transcends the words to produce a feeling rather than a narrative. “Stars Swarming” was inspired by a poem by Edith Södergran, a surrealistic nightly vision where stars keep falling in the garden until the lawn is full of splinters. “Halcyon Days” uses the simple, monotonous repetition of a triplet, which gives rise to a slowly ascending cantabile melody (shades of Bill Evans again). Rautavaara’s coloristic effects derive from his very French-based style of orchestration overlaid on his Finnish musical sensibilities.

I’ve been a fan of Leif Segerstam since the early 1970s and saw him conduct both La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera and his own works with the Cincinnati Symphony. For the life of me, I don’t understand why he is so undervalued (or, more often, ignored) as a conductor, as I consider him one of the greatest of the 20th century, but particularly in this music he gives his best because his own sensibilities are very close to Rautavaara’s. I urge you to get this record. It is a wonderful souvenir of both composer and conductor.

-- Lynn René Bayley, FANFARE

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / SOUND: *****
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/v38r/
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2010/Oct10/Rautavaara_Icons_ODE11492.htm
http://www.allmusic.com/album/rautavaara-before-the-icons-a-tapestry-of-life-mw0001974260
https://www.amazon.com/Einojuhani-Rautavaara-Before-Icons-Tapestry/dp/B0039ZCHUO

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Einojuhani Rautavaara (9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. He is among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius. Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. These include 8 symphonies, 9 operas and 12 concerti, as well as numerous vocal and chamber works. Having written early works using 12-tone serial techniques, his later music may be described as Neo-romantic and mystical. Almost all of Rautavaara's works have been recorded by Ondine. Some of his major works have also been recorded by Naxos and BIS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einojuhani_Rautavaara

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Leif Segerstam (born 2 March 1944 in Vaasa, Ostrobothnia, Finland) is a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist and pianist, especially known for his 309 symphonies, along with his other works in his extensive œuvre. Segerstam has conducted in a variety of orchestras since 1963, mostly American, Australian and European orchestras. He is widely known through his recorded discography, which includes the complete symphonies of Blomdahl, Brahms, Mahler, Nielsen, and Sibelius, as well as many works by contemporary composer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Segerstam

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