Kokkonen: Complete Kokkonen Edition, Vol. 2

Featuring

Ulf Söderblom
Monica Groop
Lahti Symphony Orchestra
Joonas Kokkonen

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Critical Reception

After the first performance of Joonas Kokkonen's Symphony No. 1, the musical press celebrated him as a "new comet in the Finnish musical sky" that would become a "fixed star."

Composition History

The song cycle "The Hades of the Birds" by Joonas Kokkonen was composed on short notice after he received a scholarship and didn't have an orchestral song ready for the prize ceremony.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Joonas Kokkonen believed that while the symphony as an art form might be dying, the broader symphonic thought, seen architecturally and philosophically, is immortal.

Composer Biography

Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996) is considered the leading personality in Finnish musical life of recent decades, both as a composer and a cultural authority.

Recording & Production

This recording, like all others by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, was made in the Church of the Cross (Ristinkirkko) in Lahti, designed by Alvar Aalto.

Compositional Technique

Joonas Kokkonen's First Symphony is a dodecaphonic (twelve-tone) work, but he adapted the system in a personal and moving way, rather than adhering slavishly to its rules.

Composition History

Joonas Kokkonen's "Music for String Orchestra" was originally conceived as a symphony, but he was afraid to give his first orchestral piece that name.