“I described that huge tidal wave as the rapids of life that I had to descend. I realised how little I knew about the strength of the human body.” Outi Tarkiainen’s new work is about the moment experienced by women giving birth. Katarina Barruk is the only artist in the world who performs and records in the Ume Sámi language. In this concert, she yoiks and sings bridges from one song to another.
Like many of her works, The Rapids of Life by Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen (b. 1985) was inspired by nature and the act of giving birth. “Only few people ever experience the Ferguson reflex, “she says, “but those who do are sure to remember its magical strength for ever. I described that enormous surge to my husband as the rapids of life I had to shoot. The form of the work imitates the physiological delivery and its different stages, carried along by the ever-shifting waves.” The piece ends with birth and a great new beginning, reinforced by the reference in the final stages of the score to the first bar of Sibelius’s fourth symphony. The Rapids of Life was jointly commissioned by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish, Netherlands Philharmonic and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestras and is dedicated to the memory of Kaija Saariaho.
The outlook for a work commissioned specially for an academic degree ceremony would not, one might expect, be particularly promising, yet such has not been the fate of the Cantus arcticus by Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928–2016). Asked by the University of Oulu to compose a cantata for choir and orchestra for a fast-approaching event, Rautavaara decided there was not enough time for the busy choir to learn the music, so why not dispense with it? He would replace the choir with birds; he would make them sing.
The idea of combining a sound tape with an orchestra was not entirely new for Rautavaara. Oulu’s was at the time the world’s most northerly university, so it seemed only natural to recruit the soloists in the forests and marshes of northern Finland. Rautavaara also added more from the Yle archives to produce a concerto for birds and orchestra (1972) that is nowadays one of the world’s most often-performed works by a Finnish composer.
The feathered soloists are not the only unusual features of this concerto, for in it, nature and orchestra coexist in perfect harmony, contrary to the conflict between individual and collective characteristic of the traditional concerto. The three movements are entitled The Marsh, Melancholy and Swans Migrating.
The Lament from the five-movement Divertimento on “Sellinger’s Round” by Michael Tippett (1905–1998) is a journey in time through the history of British music, playing with a 16th-century English tune in the styles of William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Arne, John Field, W.S. Sullivan and others. The second movement, A Lament, also slips in a quotation from the aria “Ah, Belinda” from the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. Tippett’s style is difficult to classify, but always rooted in English soil.
Philip Glass (b. 1937) is one of the founders of the school of composition known as Minimalism. A highly prolific composer, he has written nine string quartets, at least five of which allude to either a play or a film. The six-movement No. 3 is based on the music of the film Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters telling of the life of the Japanese writer and activist Yukio Mishima (1925–1970) that ended in an attempted coup and ritual suicide at Japan’s military headquarters. The transcription for string orchestra is by Pekka Kuusisto.
Born in London but now resident in New York, Hannah Kendall (b. 1984) wrote Weroon Weroon (My God, My God, 2021) for Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto. It alludes to the Poems ofResistance from British Guiana (1954) by Guianan poet and freedom fighter Martin Carter (1927–1997), who was also the subject of her chamber opera The Knife at Dawn. Twice imprisoned by the British colonialists, Carter became known as the voice of freedom, and the piece describes the man weakened by hunger strikes while looking tentatively ahead to the hope of life after death.
O Mensch, bewein’ dein’ Sünde groß (O man, bewail thy sins so great) by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), to words by Sebald Heyden dating from 1530, is a meditative chorale prelude full of feeling reflecting on the events of the Easter Passion. Bach later used it in both his St John and St Matthew Passions. Various composers have later produced arrangements of it, but the one best known, and the one to be heard to night, is that for string orchestra by Max Reger.
The ever-powerful music of Estonian Erkki-Sven Tüür (b. 1959) often has a certain affinity with that of fellow Baltic composers Pärt and Vasks, but his visions of heaven tend to be less optimistic. His triptych Action, Passion, Illusion (1995) obscures the sense of musical time and place. The middle section is the emotional core, a lamentation reaching from the depths to the heights, and exploits the expressive potential of a string orchestra to the full.
Katarina Barruk: Miärralándda (arr. Øystein Sonstad)
Katarina Barruk: Niäguoh (arr. Øystein Sonstad)
Katarina Barruk: Maadter-aahka (arr. Marzi Nyman)
Katarina Barruk: Ij gåssieke (arr. Øystein Sonstad)
Katarina Barruk / Arnljot Nordvik: Dállie (arr. Eivind Buene)
Katarina Barruk (born 1994) is a singer-songwriter, raised in Västerbotten, Sweden. As the only artist in the world, Barruk sings in the critically endangered Ume Sámi language, one of her mother tongues. Since the Ume Sámi yoik tradition is no longer alive, she has had to search through old sound archives to develop her yoik and incorporate new elements. Barruk performed at the official launch event of the 2019 UN International Year of Indigenous Languages in Paris.
Barruk’s clear, distinctive voice, combined with a steadfast presence on stage, creates a unique space of vulnerability and strength. She delivers a fierce yet down-to-earth mix of pop music, traditional yoik, and improvisational elements.
Barruk has toured Europe and performs actively in Sweden and Norway. After featuring at one of Norway's biggest and most important music festivals, the Øyafestivalen in Oslo, she was acclaimed as "Øya's biggest revelation" by the online magazine The Line of Best Fit in 2023.
Katarina Barruk has released two albums, Báruos (2015) and Ruhttuo (2022).
Pekka Kuusisto (b. 1976) is one of Finland’s most renowned musicians. At the commencement of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2024/25 concert season, Kuusisto began his second year as Principal Guest Conductor. Additionally, as Co-Artistic director, he is a member of the Artistic Leadership Team responsible for planning the programme. As he states, 'We offer both long perspectives and flashes of inspiration, both safety and fun.' In the HPO’s concerts, Pekka Kuusisto will perform as a soloist, conductor, and also as a player-director at the front of the orchestra with his violin.
Pekka Kuusisto’s career as a solo artist took off in 1995 when he won the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition at the age of 19. Since then, he has toured concert halls around the world. Kuusisto’s repertoire spans classical music to modern experiments. He improvises and composes, readily intertwining music with other art forms, aiming to make concerts more accessible and engaging for the audience.
In addition to Helsinki, he frequents Oslo (Norwegian Chamber Orchestra), Bremen (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie), and San Francisco (San Francisco Symphony).
| Violin 1 Jan Söderblom Kreeta-Julia Heikkilä Johannes Põlda Eija Hartikainen Katariina Jämsä Kati Kuusava Helmi Kuusi Elina Lehto Ilkka Lehtonen Jani Lehtonen Kari Olamaa Kalinka Pirinen Harry Rayner Angeles Salas Salas Elina Viitasaari Sirkku Helin Violin 2 Emma Nyman Kaija Lukas Kamran Omarli Teija Kivinen Teppo Ali-Mattila Eva Ballaz Heini Eklund Dhyani Gylling Matilda Haavisto Liam Mansfield Krista Rosenberg Virpi Taskila Jasmin Mönkkönen Eleonora Oswald Viola Atte Kilpeläinen Torsten Tiebout Aulikki Haahti-Turunen Kaarina Ikonen Ulla Knuuttila Carmen Moggach Liisa Orava Mariette Reefman Markus Sallinen Hajnalka Standi-Pulakka Cello Lauri Kankkunen Beata Antikainen Jaakko Rajamäki Jaani Helander Veli-Matti Iljin Ilmo Saaristo Saara Särkimäki Johannes Välja Tommi Wesslund Hans Schröck Bass Ville Väätäinen Tuomo Matero Paul Aksman Tomi Laitamäki Josh Lambert Adrian Rigopulos Miranda Erlich Lee Philip | Flute Niamh McKenna Päivi Korhonen Saara Lehtinen Oboe Jussi Jaatinen Paula Malmivaara Nils Rõõmussaar Clarinet Hanna Hujanen Heikki Nikula Marko Portin Bassoon Markus Tuukkanen Erkki Suomalainen Noora Van Dok Horn Mika Paajanen Sam Parkkonen Joonas Seppelin Marian Strandenius Trumpet Thomas Bugnot Michael Olsen Trombone Valtteri Malmivirta Jussi Vuorinen Joni Taskinen Tuba Ilkka Marttila Timpani Tomi Wikström Percussion Mikael Sandström Pasi Suomalainen Alex Martin Agustin Harp Anni Kuusimäki Minnaleena Jankko Keyboard Mirka Viitala |
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