This release on Finnish label Ondine offers Einojuhani Rautavaara's complete works for violin and piano. This isn't a large group, and even the composer's chamber works in general are not numerous. Accordingly the collection of music here is something of a miscellany, and the buyer new to Rautavaara will probably find that his genius reveals itself better in larger genres. This said, fans of the composer will find much of interest here. Among the highlights is Rautavaara's very first published work, Pelimannit (The Fiddlers ...
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This release on Finnish label Ondine offers Einojuhani Rautavaara's complete works for violin and piano. This isn't a large group, and even the composer's chamber works in general are not numerous. Accordingly the collection of music here is something of a miscellany, and the buyer new to Rautavaara will probably find that his genius reveals itself better in larger genres. This said, fans of the composer will find much of interest here. Among the highlights is Rautavaara's very first published work, Pelimannit (The Fiddlers), a suite for piano from 1952. The work consists of variations, one each, on six traditional Finnish fiddle tunes, and violinist Pekka Kuusisto here had the inspired idea to pair the variations with the fiddle tunes themselves. For listeners may not have the sound of Finnish folk music in their heads, this brings out the imagination of these little pieces, whose luminous tone took them far beyond the world of Bartók in which they were probably based. Lost Landscapes, composed in...
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