Last updated: October 25, 2023
Program
EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA Cantus Arcticus: Concerto for Birds and Orchestra (18 min)
I. Suo (The Bog)
II. Melankolia (Melancholy)
III. Joutsenet muuttavat (Swans Migrating)
ROOPE MÄENPÄÄ Luovus: Symphony for Yoik and Chamber Orchestra (25 min)
In four movements
INTERMISSION
JEAN SIBELIUS Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52 (26 min)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto
III. Moderato – Allegro, ma non tanto
Text and Translation for Luovus
In North Sámi*
luoitit luovus - guoktánit
luovvadis luovusiin
—
luoitit luovus - guoktánit
luovus lea veaittalis
muhto seammás juoga
mii luvvojuvvo
dovddatgo luohpama
galggašii diehtit buorebut
maid luohpan mearkkaša
dat jorggáhallá luovvamiin
galggašii dovdat buorebut
luovvama
dat johtá giehtalaga manahemiin
luvvemiin
—
luovvamis heaitte
máhttit luohpat
luovvat luohpama, eaidama
luoitit luovus
*Original text by Niillas Holmberg
In Finnish
luoitit luovus – päästää irti
luovus on irrallaan
—
luoitit luovus – päästää irti
luovus tarkoittaa irti
luovus on nyt myös luotava
jokin joka on luotava
tiedätkö mitä on luopuminen
pitäisi tietää paremmin
mitä on luopuminen
se on johdos verbistä luoda
pitäisi tietää paremmin
mitä on luominen
se on alkuaan merkinnyt heittämistä
päästämistä irti
—
luovvamis heaitte – heitä jo luomasta
osata luopua
luoda luopumista
päästää irti – luoitit luovus
In English
luoititluovus – to let go
luovusis loose
—
luoititluovus – to let go
luovus means loose
it’s also something
bound to be made
surrender means what
we should get better acquainted
with surrendering
it dances with creation
we should get better acquainted
with making
for creating is bound to mean loss
loosening
—
cease creating
dance with surrender
make the distance nearer
let go – luoitit luovus
Repertoire
Cantus Arcticus: Concerto for Birds and Orchestra
I. Suo (The Bog)
II. Melankolia (Melancholy)
III. Joutsenet muuttavat (Swans Migrating)
Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928–2016) is one of Finland’s significant composers of modern music and among the most popular and frequently performed of his generation. He wrote music in all genres, including symphonies plus many works for string orchestra, concertos, choral pieces such as cantatas (with texts compiled or written by him), operas (most of them set to his own libretti), songs, chamber music, and solo instrumental works (a significant number for piano). Studies in musicology at the University of Helsinki and, later, in composition at the Sibelius Academy as well as in New York and at Tanglewood with Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Vincent Persichetti, influenced his distinctively multifaceted compositional style. In recent years, scholars have unpacked Rautavaara’s eclectic fusion of traditional and modernist techniques, revealing that his combining of styles sometimes as disparate as Gregorian chant and serialism have resulted in fascinating musical works that defy easy classification. As musicologist Tim Howell noted in his 2006 study of several modern Finnish composers, nowhere “is the tension between old and new so apparent than in the diversity of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s output.”
Composed in 1972, Cantus Arcticus is one of Rautavaara’s best-known works, and one of the earliest instances in which he uses recorded tape. The idea arose when the University of Oulu, based in northwest Finland, initially commissioned a vocal cantata from the composer to be performed at its first degree-granting ceremony. Unable to find a suitable text and wanting to write a piece that would continue to be performed beyond its original purpose, Rautavaaara decided to create a work for orchestra and taped recordings of arctic birds in the region of Liminka Bay near Oulu. Already familiar with the area through visits to his mother’s relatives living there, he collected the birdsongs himself, then edited the recordings at the Finnish Broadcasting Company in Helsinki. These sounds, some of which have been electronically manipulated, are combined in partly aleatoric (i.e., involving random choice) counterpoint with the orchestra. Modal melodies and harmonies based on thirds provide an impressionistic atmosphere of layered textures that Rautavaara specialist Owen Burton explains helps “to express the depth, space, and resonance of a natural environment.”
Cantus Arcticus unfolds in three distinct movements. The first, entitled “The Bog”, Rautavaara describes, “opens with two solo flutes. They are gradually joined by other wind instruments and the sounds of bog birds in spring.” At this point, the instruments, imitating the bird calls, enter at intervals determined by the conductor. Trombones pick up the staccato sounds of a crane, which later appear on the tape. “Finally,” Rautavaara notes, “the strings enter with a broad melody that might be interpreted as the voice and mood of a person walking in the wilds.” After the melody cycles through several iterations with different instrumentation and textural details, the birds and the orchestra fade away.
The second movement, “Melancholy”, uses recorded warblings of a shore lark has been slowed down so its pitches have dropped by two octaves to make it, in the composer’s words, “a ghost bird”. At the beginning we hear birdsong in imitation, after which muted violins enter quietly, intoning a melody slowly moving in parallel harmonies. The lower strings then join in canonic imitation (orchestra, thus, somewhat mimicking the avian opening). As the strings continue in counterpoint, brass and woodwinds add sonority and volume. The orchestra builds to a climax, after which it recedes on an ethereal chord.
In the third movement, “Swans Migrating”, Rautavaara uses another technique of “creative ornithology” (his term): overdubbing a recorded tape of calls—notably those of the whooper swan, the national bird of Finland—to create the sound of many birds. The orchestra is divided into four groups of instruments, which are systematically combined to make, as Burton has pointed out, “the different textures interact, including those that are static (repeating ‘birdsong’ figurations) and those that are more dynamic (melody in parallel harmonies).” The overall effect of this “complex and expansive orchestral sonority,” he pertinently observes, “is the fluid motion of one mass that is actually made up of separate parts, resembling birds in flight.” The movement ends with a final fadeout, as if we’re left behind to watch the swans fly off into the distance.
Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD
Luovus: Symphony for Yoik and Chamber Orchestra
In four movements
Roope Mäenpää (b. 1990) is a Finnish composer and musician based in Tampere. He studied composition at the Tampere University of Applied Sciences and now teaches composing and composition pedagogy there and elsewhere. He also works as a conductor and choral conductor. Mäenpää’s œuvre includes orchestral and chamber music (the latter includes three string quartets), and his works have been performed by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra. He has also worked in close collaboration with the TamperRaw contemporary music ensemble.
Mäenpää recently composed two works—Kumollisuus (2019) and Luovus (2022), which pair yoik singing with chamber orchestra. Both pieces were premiered by the Lapland Chamber Orchestra conducted by John Storgårds with Sámi yoik singer Niillas Holmberg who has previously collaborated with the composer.
As Mäenpää explains, regarding Luovus:
To me, as a composer, the perspective of historical time in music is present in almost every stage of work in every piece. The orchestra is an entity moulded by the history of Western culture, with a past that echoes even in its most expressionistic manifestations. However, this horizon of time was rearranged on my desk when symphonic aspects were introduced to an even older element: the yoik. Yoik (luohti in North Sámi language) is the traditional singing or chanting of the indigenous Sámi people in North Europe.
The beginnings of the “Luovus” Symphony extend back to 2020, when the Lapland Chamber Orchestra premiered Kumollisuus, a short piece created by me and Niillas Holmberg, as part of its concert with space as a theme. The premiere was followed by a feeling shared by all sides: this needs to be taken further. As it happened, Kumollisuus remained and became a part of Luovus, a symphony in four movements. Even though yoik is just one of many means of expressions here, its nature is evident throughout the piece.
“The musical as well as non-musical elements of this piece were made with the strong, interactive cooperation of Holmberg,” Mäenpää further notes. “Thus, Luovus, which reflects the broad landscapes of Lapland, was a continuation and culmination of the long collaboration and multi-artistic companionship of Holmberg and yours truly.”
Biography and program note provided by the composer
Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 52
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto
III. Moderato – Allegro, ma non tanto
In 1905, Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) found himself at an artistic turning point; as he had written to his wife, Aino, on January 19, “This is the crucial hour, the last chance to make something of myself and achieve great things.” At this point, three years had passed since he had completed and premiered his Second Symphony, which, along with his First, had since established his reputation as the first Finnish composer to attain international prominence. Still, creatively, he found himself seemingly caught between worlds, concerned about his future direction and relevance, especially in the realm of symphonic music—the major genre of Western art music on which a composer is to build their reputation. While understanding that nationalistic elements in his music had played a part in his current success, he did not want to be stereotyped as an “exotic” nationalist composer. He was also wary about going the way of the massive, emotionally extravagant symphonies of Gustav Mahler, or the modernist excesses of Richard Strauss, whose opera Salome made its scandalous premiere in December 1905.
The Third Symphony reveals Sibelius’s way forward; completed in 1907, the composer conducted the Helsinki Philharmonic in its first performance on September 25 that year. Scholars have noted how the audience and critics were mostly mystified by what they had heard; compared to the Second Symphony, the Third is relatively restrained in instrumentation and expression, lacking big, Romantic-era style melodies. Moreover, taking just under a half hour to perform, the Third was the antithesis of monumental—in fact, its compact form was partly a counter-response to Mahler’s expansive Fifth Symphony, which Sibelius had studied in 1905. An oft-quoted discussion the two composers had when Mahler visited Helsinki, shortly after Sibelius had finished this symphony, further encapsulates their divergent perspectives on the symphonic genre: Sibelius had remarked that the essence of the symphony is in its “severity and style and profound logic that create the inner connection between all the motifs,” to which Mahler (who had little awareness about Sibelius and his music) famously responded, “No! The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.”
In his Third Symphony, Sibelius employs a novel symphonic approach by taking a fundamental musical element—in this case, the sonority of a C-major chord—and defamiliarizes it, then goes through a process of generative “recovery” so by the end, it emerges with a new profundity. This “C-major world” is first established at the beginning of the first movement, with a crisp, folk-like tune, quietly initiated by cellos and double basses. Gradually, other instruments join in, and the woodwinds play another folk-like idea (rich drones on C underneath give it a rustic, pastoral quality), which gives way to a confident melody proclaimed by the horns. After resolutely ending in a C-major cadence, Sibelius compresses the usual modulatory bridge section into a single note—an F-sharp—in the woodwinds, prompting a harmonic shift in which the cellos sing a musing, melancholy theme. Chattering strings then take over, with swelling motifs appearing above; the violins play a long descending sigh of a melody, but progress soon comes to a halt. After a few tentative phrases, the chatter eventually resumes, leading into the developmental section, as motifs from the first theme are passed between instruments. The melancholy theme is taken up in turn by bassoon, clarinet, and oboe, after which the chatter builds to the reprise of the main tune, and with it, a re-emergence into the C-major realm, highlighted by the timpani tapping the opening motif on all Cs. Reappearing at greater volume with thicker orchestral texture, the earlier materials have acquired a new confidence, while the second theme, now played by all the strings (save double bass) and punctuated by timpani trills, has a new intensity. When the chatter returns, it leads, by way of a plucked-string passage, to a new chorale-like theme in the woodwinds and horns. As the latter continue, the strings interject with phrases of the opening tune. Strings restate the chorale, and the movement ends with a plagal (or “Amen”) cadence, unsettling the C major conclusion so it feels more ambiguous than definitive.
The central Andantino con moto features a poignant lilting melody that pervades throughout the movement. First presented by the flutes, it undergoes varied presentations that are alternately interrupted by two mysterious episodes: the first, a devotional passage in the strings that continues in the woodwinds as a hymn-like theme with parallel harmonies; the second materializes out of a pizzicato passage that accelerates into whirling woodwind figures in search of answers. Near the end, as if resigned, the main theme makes a final return in the violins, enriched by the woodwinds’ wistful counterpoint. A reminiscence of the hymn seems to appeal for solace before the movement ends solemnly on a forceful cadence.
The Third Symphony culminates with a remarkably innovative third movement. Combining scherzo and finale together as one, Sibelius himself described its trajectory as “the crystallization of ideas from chaos.” The “scherzo” opens with a primordial soup of thematic fragments (including motifs from earlier in the symphony), after which it settles briefly into interweaving lines in the violins and a brisk tune in the woodwinds. Soon, another cycle (towards crystallization) begins, in which the fragments are further developed, and hints of a chorale appear in the horns; reiterations of the scherzo’s figures build to a massive climax, which triggers yet another generative phase. After a period of contrapuntal “churn” in the strings, we hear a determined theme emerge in the violas—it’s in C major, but its sonority is initially clouded by the surrounding chaos. Then, “scherzo” elides into “finale”, with the strings proclaiming the tune, like a joyful hymn of praise. Thereafter, a series of free variations follows, building in power and energy; the insistent recurrence of an F-sharp—the single transitional note from the first movement and “foreign” to the key of C major—attempts to shift the harmonies elsewhere but to no avail. Eventually, the C-major sonority is “recovered” in full reverberating glory, and “crystallizes” on a radiant chord to close the symphony.
Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD
Artists
Principal Guest Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, John Storgårds has a dual career as a conductor and violin virtuoso and is widely recognized for his creative flair for programming as well as his rousing yet refined performances. As Artistic Director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, a title he has held for over 25 years, Storgårds earned global critical acclaim for the ensemble’s adventurous performances and award-winning recordings.
Internationally, Storgårds appears with such orchestras as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre National de France, Vienna Radio Symphony, and the London Philharmonic, as well as all of the major Nordic orchestras, including the Helsinki Philharmonic where he was Chief Conductor from 2008 to 2015. He also regularly returns to the Münchener Kammerorchester, where he was Artistic Partner from 2016 to 2019. Further afield, he appears with the Sydney, Melbourne, Yomiuri Nippon and NHK Symphony Orchestras as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic.
Storgårds’s award-winning discography includes not only recordings of works by Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn, but also rarities by Holmboe and Vask, which feature him as violin soloist. Cycles of the complete symphonies of Sibelius (2014) and Nielsen (2015) with the BBC Philharmonic were released to critical acclaim by Chandos. November 2019 saw the release of the third and final volume of works by American avant-garde composer George Antheil. Their latest project, recording the late symphonies of Shostakovich, commenced in April 2020 with the release of Symphony No. 11. In 2023, Storgårds and the BBC Philharmonic were nominated for Gramophone magazine’s Orchestra of the Year Award.
Storgårds studied violin with Chaim Taub and conducting with Jorma Panula and Eri Klas. He received the Finnish State Prize for Music in 2002 and the Pro Finlandia Prize 2012.
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Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg is a Sámi poet, novelist, scriptwriter, and musician from Utsjoki, Sápmi. He has published a novel and six books of poetry, and his works have been translated into more than ten languages. Niillas is a genre-defying musician who works as a vocalist, composer, and lyricist, and has produced six albums.
For many years Holmberg has been involved in several movements against the exploitation of nature, such as mining, in the traditional Sámi areas. Environmental and cultural aspects are the core of his artistic expression and he is known as an upfront spokesman for Sámi and Indigenous rights.
Laurie began her stage management career with English Theatre and Jean Roberts’s company at the National Arts Centre. Since then she has been honoured to work with NAC English Theatre, NAC Indigenous Theatre, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and NAC Presents (now Popular Music and Variety). Laurie has been Production Stage Manager for the Shaw Festival and Theatre Calgary, and Stage Manager for, amongst others, Arts Club Theatre Company, The Globe Theatre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Mirvish Productions, Stratford Festival, Great Canadian Theatre Company, Grand Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, and Neptune Theatre.
Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.
Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.
Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. As one of the most accessible, inclusive, and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
Credits
NAC Orchestra
First Violins
Yosuke Kawasaki (concertmaster)
Jessica Linnebach (associate concertmaster)
Noémi Racine Gaudreault (assistant concertmaster)
Zhengdong Liang
Marjolaine Lambert
Jeremy Mastrangelo
Manuela Milani
Emily Westell
*Erica Miller
*Martine Dubé
*Oleg Chelpanov
*Andréa Armijo Fortin
Second Violins
*Aaron Schwebel (guest principal)
Emily Kruspe
Frédéric Moisan
Carissa Klopoushak
Leah Roseman
Winston Webber
Mark Friedman
Karoly Sziladi
Edvard Skerjanc
*Renée London
*Heather Schnarr
Violas
Jethro Marks (principal)
David Marks (associate principal)
David Goldblatt (assistant principal)
Paul Casey
David Thies-Thompson
Tovin Allers
*Wilma Hos
*Sonya Probst
Cellos
Rachel Mercer (principal)
**Julia MacLaine (assistant principal)
Leah Wyber
Timothy McCoy
Marc-André Riberdy
*Desiree Abbey
*Karen Kang
Double Basses
*Sam Loeck (guest principal)
Max Cardilli (assistant principal)
Vincent Gendron
Marjolaine Fournier
Flutes
Joanna G'froerer (principal)
Stephanie Morin
Oboes
Charles Hamann (principal)
Anna Petersen
English Horn
Anna Petersen
Clarinets
Kimball Sykes (principal)
Sean Rice
Bassoons
Darren Hicks (principal)
Vincent Parizeau
Horns
*Catherine Turner (guest principal)
Julie Fauteux (associate principal)
Lawrence Vine
Lauren Anker
Louis-Pierre Bergeron
Trumpets
Karen Donnelly (principal)
Steven van Gulik
Trombones
*Steve Dyer (guest principal)
Colin Traquair
Bass Trombone
Zachary Bond
Timpani
*Lauren Floyd (guest principal)
Percussion
Jonathan Wade
Harp
*Angela Schwarzkopf
Keyboards
*Frederic Lacroix
Tape Recorder
*Kevin Reeves
Principal Librarian
Nancy Elbeck
Assistant Librarian
Corey Rempel
Personnel Manager
Meiko Lydall
Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Laurie Shannon
*Additional musicians
**On leave
- Official Car of the NAC Orchestra
