Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rautavaara)
Encyclopedia
Einojuhani Rautavaara
wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1989. The work is in three, linked movements, with the central slow movement longer than the outer movements combined. Although the work employs serial
procedures, the style of piano writing is deeply rooted in the Romantic
tradition combined with Rautavaara's idiosyncratic mysticism.
s. The strings
then introduce a passionate theme, but the piano soon takes over the theme, which rises higher and higher. The passionate strings re-enter, with rhythmic interjections from brass
and percussion
, and the music rises to a climax. The piano lunges into the lowest registers, linking into the slow movement (Sognando e libero).
The piano starts off solo with a simple melody
with accompanying chord
s in the left hand, and the strings and woodwinds soon join in the peaceful repose. The piano exchanges dialogues with different instruments of the orchestra
, but the music soon becomes agitated, leading into a central toccata
-like episode, the music sometimes harsh, sometimes soft and bell-like. The agitation soon disperses and the initial tranquility is resumed with a reflective piano solo. Brass interjections, however, confer a sense of insecurity.
The last movement (Uccelli sulle passioni) opens with a subdued interplay between piano, castanets, and pizzicato
strings. The rippling piano figurations and passionate string theme from the first movement return, with added "bird sounds" from the highest registers of the piano and also low woodwinds. The passion dissipates into silence after the clarinets give out their last "bird-calls".
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Einojuhani Rautavaara is a Finnish composer of contemporary classical music, and is one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius.-Life:...
wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1989. The work is in three, linked movements, with the central slow movement longer than the outer movements combined. Although the work employs serial
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
procedures, the style of piano writing is deeply rooted in the Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
tradition combined with Rautavaara's idiosyncratic mysticism.
Movements
The concerto is in three linked movements, and plays for 20–25 minutes.- In Viaggio
- Sognando e libero
- Uccelli sulle passioni
Structure
The first movement (In Viaggio) opens with the pianist playing soft, rippling figurations, accompanied by fragmentary calls by woodwindWoodwind instrument
A woodwind instrument is a musical instrument which produces sound when the player blows air against a sharp edge or through a reed, causing the air within its resonator to vibrate...
s. The strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
then introduce a passionate theme, but the piano soon takes over the theme, which rises higher and higher. The passionate strings re-enter, with rhythmic interjections from brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
and percussion
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, and the music rises to a climax. The piano lunges into the lowest registers, linking into the slow movement (Sognando e libero).
The piano starts off solo with a simple melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
with accompanying chord
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
s in the left hand, and the strings and woodwinds soon join in the peaceful repose. The piano exchanges dialogues with different instruments of the orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
, but the music soon becomes agitated, leading into a central toccata
Toccata
Toccata is a virtuoso piece of music typically for a keyboard or plucked string instrument featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered or otherwise virtuosic passages or sections, with or without imitative or fugal interludes, generally emphasizing the dexterity of the performer's fingers...
-like episode, the music sometimes harsh, sometimes soft and bell-like. The agitation soon disperses and the initial tranquility is resumed with a reflective piano solo. Brass interjections, however, confer a sense of insecurity.
The last movement (Uccelli sulle passioni) opens with a subdued interplay between piano, castanets, and pizzicato
Pizzicato
Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
strings. The rippling piano figurations and passionate string theme from the first movement return, with added "bird sounds" from the highest registers of the piano and also low woodwinds. The passion dissipates into silence after the clarinets give out their last "bird-calls".
Recordings
- Laura MikkolaLaura MikkolaLaura Imola Mikkola is a Finnish pianist.Laura Mikkola, having previously won Pretoria's UNISA TRANSNET and Helsinki's Maj Lind competitions, and been awarded the XII Paloma O'Shea Competition's contemporary music prize and a grant-prize, was second to Markus Groh at the XIII Queen Elisabeth Music...
(pianist), Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, Eri KlasEri KlasEri Klas, is an Estonian conductor.Klas is of Jewish ancestry. Klas graduated as an opera and concert conductor in both Tallinn and Leningrad , beginning his conducting career at the Estonia Theatre in Tallinn and at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow...
(conductor), NaxosNaxos RecordsNaxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
(record company) - Ralf GothoniRalf GothoniRalf Georg Nils Gothóni is a Finnish pianist and conductor. He is also active as a chamber musician, professor, composer, and author. Born in Rauma, Finland he made his orchestra debut at age 15. Besides his worldwide concert career he has made some 100 recordings with major labels...
(pianist), Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Max Pommer (conductor), OndineOndine (record label)Ondine is a Finnish classical record label founded in 1985 in Helsinki, Finland, where the company is still based, and today offers an extremely eclectic catalogue of both contemporary Finnish music, as well as recordings with major Finnish and international artists...
(record company)