Aho: Theremin Concerto & Horn Concerto

Featuring

John Storgårds
Annu Salminen
Carolina Eyck
Lapland Chamber Orchestra
Kalevi Aho

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Compositional Technique

In Kalevi Aho's Horn Concerto, the soloist moves around the stage, starting backstage and gradually moving from left to right behind the orchestra, before leaving the stage again, giving the work a ritualistic character.

Composition History

The Horn Concerto was specifically composed for Annu Salminen, the solo hornist of the Lappeenranta City Orchestra, after Kalevi Aho was impressed by her playing.

Composer Biography

Kalevi Aho, born in 1949, began his musical journey by studying violin at age ten and composing his first pieces around the same time.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Kalevi Aho's Theremin Concerto uses an electronic instrument to depict the northern year, drawing on the theremin's shamanistic aspect and the magical experience it creates for the listener.

Instruments

The theremin, developed by Russian Lev Termen in 1919-20, is the world's first electronic musical instrument, played without physical contact.

Composition History

Kalevi Aho's Theremin Concerto, titled 'Eight Seasons', is dedicated to Carolina Eyck and is structured into eight movements, reflecting the Sami people's ancient division of the year.

Composer's Artistic Vision

A major compositional project for Kalevi Aho has been to write a concerto for each main instrument of the Romantic symphony orchestra, with the Horn Concerto being the eighteenth in this series.