Aulis Sallinen

Aulis Sallinen

Aulis Sallinen at the Academic Bookstore in Helsinki, Finland, in 2009
Born (1935-05-09) May 9, 1935
Occupation composer
Known for symphonies
opera
Notable work Operas Ratsumies (The Horseman) and Punainen Viiva (The red Line)

Aulis Sallinen (born April 9, 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic".[1][2] Sallinen studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen. He has had works commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, and has also written 6 operas, 8 symphonies, concertos for violin, cello, flute, horn and English horn as well as several chamber works. He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1978 for his opera Ratsumies (The Horseman).

Childhood and studies

Sallinen was born in Salmi. During his childhood the family moved several times for his father's work, and during Evacuation of Finnish Karelia in 1944 the family relocated in Uusikaupunki, where Aulis Sallinen attended his schools.[3]

His first instruments were violin and piano. He would play both jazz and classical music.[4] He was known to be extremely creative, and spent much time during his teenage years improvising. After a while, he began writing his ideas down on paper, and began to do serious composition. He attended the Sibelius Academy of Music, and studied with a number of prestigious teachers such as Aarre Merikanto and Joonas Kokkonen.[5]

Early adult life

After graduating, Sallinen took a position as composition teacher at the Sibelius Academy, and continued composing. One of his prominent student was the Austrian born Finnish composer Herman Rechberger. In his mid 20s, he was put on the board of directors of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He became chairman of the board of Finnish Composers ten years later. Though he was a known teacher and was on many boards of directors, his compositions were not particularly noted until he was made "Professor of Arts for Life" by the Finnish government, giving him money so he could focus more on composition.

Saline's first opera Ratsumies premiered at Savonlinna in 1974. Together with Joonas Kokkonen's The Last Temptations (1975) its started the golden era of modern Finnish opera. Second opera, Punainen viiva (The red line), was commissioned by Finnish National Opera, third one jointly by Covent Garden and others, and it is called Kuningas lahtee Ranskaan (The King goes to France).[4]

Later life

After receiving the lifelong art professorship, Sallinen devoted great amounts of time to his composing. He has revived standard forms and harmonies, but puts them together in very contemporary ways. He has received a number of commissions from some very renowned ensembles and has composed eight symphonies, including one using material from a proposed ballet on The Lord of the Rings and containing two mediaeval Finnish tunes from the Piae Cantiones. He has written six operas, and is well known as the composer of the title track of the Kronos Quartet's album Winter Was Hard.

Career highlights

Selected works

Symphonies

Orchestral

Concertos

Chamber music

Operas

Vocal and choral

Recordings

References

  1. ↑ Donal Henahan, "Music: Finnish Opera Offers Sallinen's 'Red Line.'" The New York Times. April 29, 1983.
  2. ↑ Jeremy Parsons, The Musical Times. Vol. 121, No. 1653 (Nov., 1980), pp. 693-695.
  3. ↑ "Sallinen, Aulis (1935 - )". Biografiakeskus (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 October 2016. (registration required (help)).
  4. 1 2 "Biography". all music guide. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "Aulis Sallinen". Ondine. Retrieved 26 October 2016.

External links

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