Good news, indeed,
for this is the first instalment of
CPO’s ambitious programme of recordings
of Sallinen’s complete orchestral output.
There is plenty of ground to cover and
he has already completed his Eighth
Symphony Autumnal Fragments
commissioned by the Concertgebouw Orchestra.
They will premiere it in April 2004.
Although his reputation
mainly rests on his successful series
of operas, Sallinen has consistently
composed for orchestral forces of varying
size throughout his composing career.
His symphonies are the backbone of his
orchestral output, although whether
they are real symphonies may still be
debated. Ultimately, though, a symphony
is what the composer makes of it. Few,
if any, of Sallinen’s symphonies fit
into the traditional symphonic mould;
but all of them may be regarded as his
most personal utterances, and – as such
– deserve respect and consideration.
The earliest work here,
Chorali Op.22, completed
in 1970, scored for orchestral winds,
celesta and harp, was written at Berglund’s
suggestion. The piece appropriately
consists of blocks of sound, constantly
varied, separated or brought together
in a mosaic-like counterpoint. Several
later works such as the Fifth
String Quartet "Pieces of Mosaic"
Op.54 and the Fifth Symphony
"Washington Mosaics" Op.57
emphasise this type of musical thinking.
However, Chorali Op.22
and the First Symphony (its original
title was Sinfonia) share
several Sallinen hallmarks, foremost
among them, an organic development of
small motivic units, somewhat in a similar
way as Holmboe’s so-called metamorphosis
technique. The First Symphony is thus
a compact single movement structure
roughly based on variations. At that
time, too, Sallinen had already turned
his back on serial thinking still evident
in some of his early works, although
he never strictly adhered to Serialism.
Both the Seventh
Symphony "The Dreams of Gandalf"
Op.71 and A Solemn Overture
(King Lear) Op.75
belong to the other end of Sallinen’s
present composing career. Symphony
No.7, completed in 1996, largely
reworks material gathered for a ballet
based on Tolkien’s The Hobbit
that never materialised. The subtitle,
however, does not imply that this is
programmatic music. The composer does
not aim at depicting particular episodes
from Tolkien’s novel. According to the
composer’s words printed in the insert
notes, "it is a musical expression
of the literary atmosphere and poetry".
The music suggests various moods of
the book: heroic and legendary, mysterious
and meditative. As Martin Anderson rightly
remarks in his excellent notes, "the
work progresses ... in a patchwork of
differing moods and colours". The
score proceeds in a series of episodes
of hugely contrasted character, by turns
dramatic, heroic and meditative. There
are, at time, typical touches of Sallinen
humour, as in the jolly, archaic-sounding
dance (scored for bassoons, tuba and
bass drum). The slower sections more
than once suggest expansive landscapes
of mysterious grandeur. The peaceful
ending of the symphony mirrors the mysterious,
"in a legendary mood" opening
section, so that the music comes full
circle. The Seventh Symphony is, no
doubt, one of Sallinen’s most engaging,
marvellously scored orchestral works.
A Solemn Overture
(King Lear) Op.75, commissioned
by the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra
to mark the 700th anniversary
of the Grimaldi family, uses material
sketched for the opera on which the
composer was working at that time. The
work was premiered as Ouverture solennelle;
and, for obvious reasons, the subtitle
was added later! Though in no way programmatic
(in spite of the later addition of the
subtitle), the overture – incidentally
an independent piece of music otherwise
unrelated to the opera – may be experienced
as a powerful, at times sombre and menacing,
tone poem … not without grandeur either.
The performances, recorded
under the composer’s supervision, are
highly idiomatic and have an unmistakable
ring of authenticity that makes this
– and the forthcoming instalments –
highly commendable. Rasilainen leads
his forces with a sure hand as well
as a clear mind, making the best of
these superb pieces. I am eagerly waiting
for the other discs in this series.
Hubert Culot
Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Ari Rasilainen
