Unlike traditional Requiems by Mozart and Verdi, Kokkonen's Requiem replaces the terrifying Dies irae movements with a comforting Tractus and ends with the encouraging E flat major harmony.
Compositional Technique
Opus sonorum contains a main motif based on the musical letters of Jean Sibelius's name (E-A-E flat-B-B flat), a fact the composer only revealed fifteen years after writing the piece.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Joonas Kokkonen, the composer, believed that in a symphony, "everything depends upon everything else, and everything has an effect upon the totality."
Performer Biography
Walton Grönroos, a Finnish baritone, has performed with world-renowned conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein, Karl Böhm, and Herbert von Karajan.
Composition History
Kokkonen's orchestral piece Opus sonorum was initially conceived as "Music without Percussion" because the composer was annoyed by the prominent role of large percussion sections in contemporary music he heard.
Composition History
Joonas Kokkonen's Requiem was originally planned as an "ecumenical mass" but became a requiem mass in memory of his wife, Maija Kokkonen, following her long illness and death.
Recording & Production
The complete recording of Joonas Kokkonen's orchestral music by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra is one of Finland's largest recording projects.
