Rautavaara: Songs

Featuring

Jyrki Korhonen
Ilkka Paananen
Einojuhani Rautavaara

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Performer Biography

Jyrki Korhonen, the Finnish basso profundo on this album, has performed with eminent conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Sir Simon Rattle.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rautavaara believes that the artist is not a person with free will, but rather one who allows art to realize its purposes through them, echoing Carl Gustav Jung.

Composer Biography

Rautavaara's family background was rich in solo songs, with both his father and cousin, Aulikki Rautawaara, being singers.

Composer Biography

Einojuhani Rautavaara, born in 1928, received a grant from Jean Sibelius to study at the Juilliard School in New York.

Composition History

Rautavaara's early compositions, including dozens of songs, were often set to texts by poets like Edith Södergran, Kaarlo Sarkia, or Paul Verlaine.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Religious and metaphysical themes are a consistent feature throughout Rautavaara's entire body of work.

Interpretation

For this recording, Rautavaara arranged the song cycles to suit the basso profundo register of Jyrki Korhonen, transposing and adapting passages, with some songs reaching a low F.