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| Einojuhani Rautavaara, Composer, Dies at 87; His Lush Music Found Wide Appeal | Einojuhani Rautavaara, Composer, Dies at 87; His Lush Music Found Wide Appeal |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| Throughout most of his life, the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara wrestled with two shadow presences. | Throughout most of his life, the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara wrestled with two shadow presences. |
| One was the memory of an angel-like creature that appeared to him in a childhood nightmare and enveloped him in a suffocating embrace; in later years, during his fertile music-making career, angels began to crowd the titles of his works: “Angel of Light,” “Angels and Visitations,” “Angel of Dusk,” “Playground for Angels.” | One was the memory of an angel-like creature that appeared to him in a childhood nightmare and enveloped him in a suffocating embrace; in later years, during his fertile music-making career, angels began to crowd the titles of his works: “Angel of Light,” “Angels and Visitations,” “Angel of Dusk,” “Playground for Angels.” |
| These angels, he told friends and students, were close relatives of the frightening apparitions from Rainer Maria Rilke’s poems whose very beauty announces the arrival of something terrible. | These angels, he told friends and students, were close relatives of the frightening apparitions from Rainer Maria Rilke’s poems whose very beauty announces the arrival of something terrible. |
| The other shadow was that of his countryman, the composer Sibelius. The comparisons never ceased. Mr. Rautavaara’s adoption first of neo-Classical and then of 12-tone techniques was seen as a reaction to the late Romanticism of Sibelius, who died in 1957 at 91. | The other shadow was that of his countryman, the composer Sibelius. The comparisons never ceased. Mr. Rautavaara’s adoption first of neo-Classical and then of 12-tone techniques was seen as a reaction to the late Romanticism of Sibelius, who died in 1957 at 91. |
| Beginning in the 1980s, as interest in contemplative music surged and sales of recordings of Mr. Rautavaara’s increasingly tonal and luscious music climbed into the hundreds of thousands, many thought they heard echoes of the brooding Nordic soundscapes of Sibelius in Mr. Rautavaara’s symphonies. | Beginning in the 1980s, as interest in contemplative music surged and sales of recordings of Mr. Rautavaara’s increasingly tonal and luscious music climbed into the hundreds of thousands, many thought they heard echoes of the brooding Nordic soundscapes of Sibelius in Mr. Rautavaara’s symphonies. |
| When he died on July 27 in Helsinki, Finland, at 87, one epitaph quickly gained currency: “The greatest Finnish composer since Sibelius.” His death, from complications of hip surgery, was confirmed by Reijo Kiilunen, founder of the Finnish record label Ondine and a close family friend. | When he died on July 27 in Helsinki, Finland, at 87, one epitaph quickly gained currency: “The greatest Finnish composer since Sibelius.” His death, from complications of hip surgery, was confirmed by Reijo Kiilunen, founder of the Finnish record label Ondine and a close family friend. |
| Einojuhani Rautavaara (pronounced AY-no-yu-hah-ni row-ta-VAH-ra) was born in Helsinki on Oct. 9, 1928. His father, Eino, was an opera singer and cantor; his mother, Elsa, was a doctor. | Einojuhani Rautavaara (pronounced AY-no-yu-hah-ni row-ta-VAH-ra) was born in Helsinki on Oct. 9, 1928. His father, Eino, was an opera singer and cantor; his mother, Elsa, was a doctor. |
| He took up the piano at the unusually late age of 17. By that point, his parents had died, and he had been entrusted to the care of an aunt. | He took up the piano at the unusually late age of 17. By that point, his parents had died, and he had been entrusted to the care of an aunt. |
| After studying musicology at the University of Helsinki and pursuing degrees in composition and piano at the Sibelius Academy there, Mr. Rautavaara caught the eye of Sibelius himself. For his 90th birthday, in 1955, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation had established a scholarship in Sibelius’s honor, and he used it to enable Mr. Rautavaara to attend the Juilliard School (taking composition lessons from Vincent Persichetti) and spend two summers at Tanglewood under the tutelage of Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland. | After studying musicology at the University of Helsinki and pursuing degrees in composition and piano at the Sibelius Academy there, Mr. Rautavaara caught the eye of Sibelius himself. For his 90th birthday, in 1955, the Koussevitzky Music Foundation had established a scholarship in Sibelius’s honor, and he used it to enable Mr. Rautavaara to attend the Juilliard School (taking composition lessons from Vincent Persichetti) and spend two summers at Tanglewood under the tutelage of Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland. |
| Back in Finland, Mr. Rautavaara divided his time between teaching and composing. Among his students were composers who would become international stars, including Esa-Pekka Salonen and Magnus Lindberg. His own output included nine operas, eight symphonies and 12 instrumental concertos, as well as chamber music and choral works. | |
| His first marriage, to the soprano Mariaheidi Suovanen, ended in divorce. In 1984, he married Sinikka Koivisto, a singer 27 years his junior. She survives him, as do his children from his first marriage, Yrja, Markojuhani and Olof; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. | His first marriage, to the soprano Mariaheidi Suovanen, ended in divorce. In 1984, he married Sinikka Koivisto, a singer 27 years his junior. She survives him, as do his children from his first marriage, Yrja, Markojuhani and Olof; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. |
| Mr. Rautavaara’s second marriage ushered in a period of heightened creativity and coincided with a transition to a neo-Romantic, deeply expressive musical language. Hallmarks of this style were a rich and pliable string sound and long, arching melodies that seem to reflect the expansive vistas of the Nordic countryside. In fact, his fascination with horizons was born in New England in 1955, when he visited the Atlantic coast. | Mr. Rautavaara’s second marriage ushered in a period of heightened creativity and coincided with a transition to a neo-Romantic, deeply expressive musical language. Hallmarks of this style were a rich and pliable string sound and long, arching melodies that seem to reflect the expansive vistas of the Nordic countryside. In fact, his fascination with horizons was born in New England in 1955, when he visited the Atlantic coast. |
| In a phone interview, Pekka Hako, a writer, documentarian and friend, said that for Mr. Rautavaara a horizon did not represent the edge of the visible world so much as the threshold to eternity. “He was not religious,” Mr. Hako said, “but he was interested in the ability of music to open a window to the other world.” | In a phone interview, Pekka Hako, a writer, documentarian and friend, said that for Mr. Rautavaara a horizon did not represent the edge of the visible world so much as the threshold to eternity. “He was not religious,” Mr. Hako said, “but he was interested in the ability of music to open a window to the other world.” |
| Although raised in the Lutheran Church, Mr. Rautavaara felt more drawn to the sounds and ancient rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church. A childhood visit to the island monastery of Valamo on Lake Ladoga left a deep impression. Beginning in 1971 he wrote what was perhaps his choral masterpiece, “Vigilia,” an a cappella setting of the Orthodox vigil of St. John the Baptist that features otherworldly swooping and sliding gestures. | Although raised in the Lutheran Church, Mr. Rautavaara felt more drawn to the sounds and ancient rituals of the Eastern Orthodox Church. A childhood visit to the island monastery of Valamo on Lake Ladoga left a deep impression. Beginning in 1971 he wrote what was perhaps his choral masterpiece, “Vigilia,” an a cappella setting of the Orthodox vigil of St. John the Baptist that features otherworldly swooping and sliding gestures. |
| Nature inspired another of Mr. Rautavaara’s most popular works, the Cantus Arcticus of 1972. Also known as “Concerto for Birds and Orchestra,” it features bird calls he recorded in a bog near the Arctic Circle. In the piece, nature is cajoled to imitate art, with the tape-recorded (and subtly manipulated) bird calls entering only after an expansive, looping flute introduction. | Nature inspired another of Mr. Rautavaara’s most popular works, the Cantus Arcticus of 1972. Also known as “Concerto for Birds and Orchestra,” it features bird calls he recorded in a bog near the Arctic Circle. In the piece, nature is cajoled to imitate art, with the tape-recorded (and subtly manipulated) bird calls entering only after an expansive, looping flute introduction. |
| Mr. Kiilunen, whose Ondine label released more than 40 recordings of Mr. Rautavaara’s music, recalled him in a phone interview as a man whose gentle manners and easy humor belied a strong sense of self. | Mr. Kiilunen, whose Ondine label released more than 40 recordings of Mr. Rautavaara’s music, recalled him in a phone interview as a man whose gentle manners and easy humor belied a strong sense of self. |
| “Gustav Mahler said that a symphony has to include the whole world,” Mr. Kiilunen said. “Rautavaara once said to me, ‘It’s enough if the symphony includes the whole of myself.’” | “Gustav Mahler said that a symphony has to include the whole world,” Mr. Kiilunen said. “Rautavaara once said to me, ‘It’s enough if the symphony includes the whole of myself.’” |
| It took confidence, too, to write tonal and disarmingly tuneful music in the latter half of the 20th century, when Modernism was the prevailing dogma. Mr. Salonen, a noted conductor as well as a composer, said in an interview that to a young student fervently committed to the Modernist cause, Mr. Rautavaara’s return to traditional harmony could feel like a “sellout.” He recalled conducting Mr. Rautavaara’s Symphony No. 5, which opens with a series of chords in radiant C major. | It took confidence, too, to write tonal and disarmingly tuneful music in the latter half of the 20th century, when Modernism was the prevailing dogma. Mr. Salonen, a noted conductor as well as a composer, said in an interview that to a young student fervently committed to the Modernist cause, Mr. Rautavaara’s return to traditional harmony could feel like a “sellout.” He recalled conducting Mr. Rautavaara’s Symphony No. 5, which opens with a series of chords in radiant C major. |
| “That kind of signal at that moment in history was like a huge exclamation mark: I’m starting a piece that is called ‘symphony’ — which is already outrageous — and I’m starting it in C major,” Mr. Salonen said, laughing. “When I conducted the first rehearsal of that piece, I felt as if my grandfather had spotted me buying a porn magazine. It was an outrageous thing to conduct a new piece that started in C major.” | “That kind of signal at that moment in history was like a huge exclamation mark: I’m starting a piece that is called ‘symphony’ — which is already outrageous — and I’m starting it in C major,” Mr. Salonen said, laughing. “When I conducted the first rehearsal of that piece, I felt as if my grandfather had spotted me buying a porn magazine. It was an outrageous thing to conduct a new piece that started in C major.” |
| Mr. Rautavaara had great patience for such feelings, Mr. Salonen said. | Mr. Rautavaara had great patience for such feelings, Mr. Salonen said. |
| “He was very gentle about these tendencies I had,” he said. “He understood that a young person needed some kind of a tribal identity, to be against somebody and for something. He said when you get older you will learn that truth is more elusive than you think — and that maybe it’s not even the point. Maybe we are trying to achieve something different.” | “He was very gentle about these tendencies I had,” he said. “He understood that a young person needed some kind of a tribal identity, to be against somebody and for something. He said when you get older you will learn that truth is more elusive than you think — and that maybe it’s not even the point. Maybe we are trying to achieve something different.” |