Tuesday, August 9, 2016

A Year's Music: Rautavaara's "Vigilia"

Einojuhani Rautavaara is considered the most important Finnish composer after Sibelius. He died just a few days ago, on July 27, 2016, aged 87. (See his obituary here.) I have seen his name referred to in "Gramophone" magazine but this evening is the first time I've listened to his music. A new discovery!

I'll have a lot to listen to, as Rautavaara wrote many works, but this evening I'm listening to his "Vigil" (All Night Vigil), composed in the early 1970s and revised in 1996. Here is a review of the work. From this site, here is the list of sections:
Vespers 29:35
1
2 Psalm 103
3 1st Katisma
4 Psalm Of Invocation
5 Sticheron Of Invocation
6 Sticheron To The Mother Of God
7 Evening Hymn
8 Ekteniya
9 Sticheron Of The Litany
10 Ekteniya Of The Litany
11 Sticheron
12 Troparion
13 Troparion Of The Feast
14 Final Blessing
Matins 34:32
15
16 Troparion
17 Troparion
18 Hymn Of Praise
19 Troparion Of The Resurrection
20 Antiphon
21 Prokeimenon
22 Hymn Of The Resurrection
23 Canon: 1st Irmos
24 3rd Irmos
25 4th Irmos
26 5th Irmos
27 6th Irmos
28 7th Irmos
29 8th Irmos
30 Katabasis: Hymn Of Thanksgiving Of The Mother Of God
31 9th Irmos
32 Sticheron Of Thanksgiving
33 Troparion Of The Resurrection
34 Final Blessing

And here is the recording to which I've been listening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekcd9xq5ZQM The bass, Jyrki Korhonen, really stands out!


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