Listen to the world’s newest symphony

Listen to the world’s newest symphony

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norman lebrecht

September 04, 2015

Kalevi Aho’s 16th symphony had its premiere in Helsinki this week.

Our correspondent writes: ‘
I was surprised, in general, by the meditative, nearly religious character of the 5-movement piece with a duration of around 52 minutes. The string sections are really superb. Occasionally we get reminders of Shostakovich and perhaps some Polish contemporary composers. Yet, there is no doubt about the sincerity of the emotional level involved here.

Climax is the final movement (starting at 40:00) – it starts and ends as a kind of a magical oriental ritual: the percussions are joined by the soprano that recites poetry of Gertrud Kolmar – first behind the stage, then on the stage, and finally behind the stage again.’

You can listen to the symphony by clicking here.

kalevi aho

 

Comments

  • Jim says:

    Your link is missing 🙁

  • William Safford says:

    The link needs to be repaired. (I’d love to hear it.)

  • Sardis says:

    I’m afraid I can’t link either.

  • Peter Kislinger says:

    “The Kalevi Aho Society” (Facebook) posted the link immediately on FB and shared it with “Scandinavian Classical Music”. The symphony starts at 1:27.30. Go to “The Kalevi Aho Society” (Facebook) to find the composer´s comments (I have also posted the movements in instalments & comments & time indications.) http://yle.fi/aihe/tapahtuma/2015/09/03/thursday-series-1 – See more at: https://slippedisc.com/2015/09/listen-to-the-worlds-newest-symphony/#comment-81158

  • Martin says:

    The missing link:
    http://areena.yle.fi/1-2911162

    You’re welcome 🙂

  • Joel says:

    The VIDEO link is areena.yle.fi/1-3004417

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