Publisher's Synopsis
Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016) has been called Finland's most notable musical export after Sibelius. His prolific output includes eleven operas, eight symphonies, eleven concertos, choral works for the Orthodox, Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches, secular choral works, chamber music, vocal solos, and keyboard works. Many of these works were commissioned by internationally known performers and ensembles, including Vladimir Askenazy, pianist, Richard Stolzman, clarinetist, Hilary Hahn, violinist, Anne Akiko Meiers, violinist, Gerald Finley, baritone, the Philadelphia Symphonic Orchestra, and the Juilliard School of Music Orchestra. Perhaps most frequently performed are his Cantus Arcticus, a concerto for recorded arctic birds and orchestra, Angel of Light, his seventh symphony, and the Lorca choral suite depicting Death as a stalker in a Spanish village. Routavaara's Journey into Music is divided into two sections, the first a biography and discussion of works that show his various style changes, from neoclassical, to twelve-tone, to post romantic, to a personal expressive style combining elements of twelve-tone and tonality. The second part divides his works by genre and gives more detailed information of stylistic analysis, libretto, provenance, and, often, reception.
