THE ‘FINNISH TONE’ – PHENOMENON OR FACT? SOME REMARKS ABOUT EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA’S MUSIC AND AESTHETICS
Keywords:
Finnish art music, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Finnish tone, Nordic tone, music analysis, reception, contemporary musicAbstract
Today, the most prominent and successful Finnish composer is Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928). Besides, he has also left his footprint in modern Finnish musical life being a composition teacher, music critic, musicologist and author. During the recent three decennia he has repeatedly postulated the existence of a ‘tone’ in Finnish music distinctive from that of other nations. This claim is quite astounding and leads to further questions. The most important question in this context is if his claim has to be understood as the description of a listening attitude or if we can derive certain characteristics of Finnish music from it, i.e., if we can even grasp this ‘tone’ analytically. It is fair to assume that Rautavaara’s statement applies also – if not in the first instance – to his own music. In my paper, I will list seven different characteristics of Rautavaara’s compositions, which explain his claim in more detail.
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References
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