Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara

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 Symphony No. 8, subtitled The Journey, in 1999.

Instrumentation

2 Flutes, Piccolo

Piccolo

The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...

, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets in B flat, Bass Clarinet

Bass clarinet

The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...

, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon

Contrabassoon

The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...

, 4 Horns

Horn (instrument)

The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....

 in F, 4 Trumpets in C, 3 Trombones, Tuba

Tuba

The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...

, Percussion: Timpani

Timpani

Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...

, Vibraphone

Vibraphone

The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....

, Xylophone

Xylophone

The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...

, Glockenspiel

Glockenspiel

A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...

, Tubular Bells

Tubular Bells

Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...

, 4 Tom-toms, Cymbal

Cymbal

Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...

 (suspended), Gong

Gong

A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....

 (30"), 3 Tamtams

Tamtams

The Montreal Tamtams are a drum circle based in Montreal, Canada. The free event gathers thousands of drum players, dancers, vendors and visitors, every Sunday, at the George-Étienne Cartier Monument in Mount Royal Park. The Tamtam festivities start at 1 pm and continue until sunset...

, 2 Harp

Harp

The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...

s, 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...

.

Recordings

Few works from the past decade or two have enjoyed multiple recordings. The four recordings of this symphony proves Rautavaara to be a major voice in the contemporary classical music scene.

Orchestra	Conductor	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland...	Leif Segerstam Leif Segerstam Leif Segerstam is a Finnish conductor and composer.He studied violin, piano and conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and conducting at the Juilliard School in New York with Jean Morel....	Ondine Records		CD
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....	Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen Pietari Inkinen is a Finnish violinist and conductor. He began violin and piano studies at age 4. As a youth, he also performed in a rock band. He attended the Sibelius Academy and graduated with diplomas in violin and conducting...	Naxos Records Naxos Records Naxos 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...	2006	CD
Lahti Symphony Orchestra Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra is a Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. It was founded in 1910 and placed under the control of the Lahti municipality in 1949. In Finland the orchestra performs in the Sibelius Hall, while it also performs abroad in concert halls and festivals...	Osmo Vänskä Osmo Vänskä Osmo Antero Vänskä is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist and composer.He started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic . He then became the principal clarinet of the Helsinki Philharmonic from 1977 to 1982...	BIS records BIS Records BIS Records is a record label founded in 1973 by Robert von Bahr. It is located in Åkersberga, Sweden.BIS focuses on classical music, both contemporary and early, especially works that are not already well represented by existing recordings....		CD
Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...	Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch Wolfgang Sawallisch is a retired German conductor and pianist.-Biography:Sawallisch was born in Munich, and studied composition and pianoforte there privately: at the conclusion of the war, in 1946 he continued his studies at the Munich High School for Music and passed his final examination for...			DVD