Publisher's Synopsis
Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996) has been one of the most performed Finnish composers during the past twenty-five years both within Finland and abroad. At the heart of his compositional career lie his four symphonies and his 1975 opera The Last Temptations. Kokkonen's significance for Finnish musical life extends far beyond his successes as a composer, however. He was instrumental in the training of a generation of Finnish composers, and through his membership of the Finnish Academy during the 1960s and 70s became directly responsible for the development of the nation's extensive system of music education. - - Edward Jurkowski's study of Joonas Kokkonen is the first full-scale account in English. Starting with a brief survey of Finnish music during the twentieth century, the book then devotes a separate chapter to each of the major genres in which Kokkonen composed: symphonic, orchestral, vocal, chamber and keyboard works. Illustrated with over a hundred music examples, The Music of Joonas Kokkonen seeks to overturn his reputation in some quarters as a conservative, even old-fashioned, composer, and argues that Kokkonen created an interesting and refreshing approach to dodecaphonic composition and pitch organization. With a full chronological listing of works and bibliography, this book is the most important reference source to date on Kokkonen and his music. -
