Kalevi Aho has a substantial output, including five operas, eighteen symphonies, and 43 concertos, in addition to chamber and vocal works.
Composition History
Kalevi Aho conceived the initial ideas for his Symphony No. 17 during a night train journey from Helsinki to Kemijärvi, Finland.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Kalevi Aho composes large-scale works as "interim statements" of his career, aiming to utilize all his skills, often resulting in a symphony.
Performer Biography
Erkki Lasonpalo, the conductor on this album, studied violin and conducting at the Sibelius Academy and is also a member of the Postiglione String Quartet.
Composer Biography
Kalevi Aho, a Finnish contemporary composer, began studying violin and composing at age ten, later studying composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara at the Sibelius Academy.
Instruments
Kalevi Aho's Symphony No. 17 uses an organ and two newly developed wind instruments, the lupophone and contraforte, which can be replaced by a heckelphone and traditional contrabassoon if unavailable.
Compositional Technique
Kalevi Aho designed his Symphony No. 17 so that each of its three movements could be played independently, like stand-alone symphonic poems.
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