Rautavaara: The 8 Symphonies - Limited Edition Box [Box set, Import]

Rautavaara has been my big musical discovery of 2009. I have been listening to the music in this box, on and off, for a couple of months now, and their power over me continues to grow. It has become clear that he is to be one of those composers who has completely hooked my obsessive compulsive collector, and there are to be quite a few more Rautavaara purchases over the coming months.

The first three symphonies are neo-classical in style. All very fine to listen to. Comparisons come easily; Shostakovich in his brighter moods, early Stravinsky; echoes from his old mentor Sibelius of course. One can even hear what seem to be the vivid pastoral qualities of Delius and the poised grandeur of Respighi in there. But while there clearly is an individual voice seeking expression in these works, it is one that has yet to get out from under its influences.

The fourth breaks the series, being an overtly dodecaphonic work of great dramatic power. There is a new prevalence of exotic percussion and pungent chords. It's a fairly brief work of great integrity, never getting lost or becoming indulgent. But again, comparisons come rather easily; the big orchestral works of Messiaen and Boulez for instance. He calls this symphony the Arabescata, perhaps for formal reasons, for there is no obvious use of Middle Eastern idioms as far as I can discern.

It is with the fifth symphony that we know we are listening to an artist who has now found his full, individual voice. The closest comparison that comes to mind now is Lutoslawski, filled as it is with the most exotic chords, startling orchestral effects and even controlled aleatoric, or at least pseudo-aleatoric, elements. But in this case the comparison is not in the manner of a derivative influence, but as an aid to description of the work of a man who has found, and is blazing, his own unique trail. A principle now becomes explicit that has been there implicitly in the previous works, that there is easy movement between great drama and exquisite contemplation, but all is subordinated to beauty in a most direct, visceral and always life-affirming sense.

This principle is made still clearer in symphony No.6, his Vincentiana, which is an orchestral abridgement of his opera, Rautavaara: Vincent, based on the life of Van Gogh. I continue to reel from the intensity of daily exposure to this work, which is one of those rare finds that remind me why I collect music. As one grows older, and the more music one hears, the less likely it seems that new music will bring the shiver down the spine or the tears to the eyes that came so much more easily in youth. But this, for me, is one of those works, and I am so glad to have found it. In this work we are taken into the mind of a man whom is literally being driven mad and ultimately killed by the intensity of his experience of beauty. This intense beauty is imbued with an edge of claustrophobic panic that gradually increases, and that points to inevitable tragedy. When the inevitable tragedy comes, however, it is transformed into an apotheosis, as the final movement is called, where the mounting despair is suddenly transfigured into a magical dissolution into nature. I have in fact ordered this opera, and await its arrival on tenterhooks, not a little apprehensive that the intensity of the symphony will be somewhat dissipated by the operatic narrative, but also hopeful that there will be more ravishing music to be discovered.

There are two further symphonies that I have only given a cursory listening to at this point, and seven, in particular, is the one that established Rautavaara's international reputation. So I have more marvellous listening ahead.

It seems to me that an essential feature of Rautavaara's style is that of `taking a line for a walk' after the manner of Paul Klee. A recurrent device throughout his work is the use of a meandering string line, that never stands still, that seems always to be rising without actually doing so, and with no real tonal centre but which is always very beautiful.. As the line moves it encounters all sorts of other stuff along the way, sometimes being submerged beneath the drama, but when the smoke clears out comes the line again and it continues on its way. This is another feature that becomes obvious in the later works but which, once identified, can be discerned in the nascent style of the earlier works.

Composers like Rautavarra are a shining beacon that tell us it is still possible to write music that is beautiful in a straightforward and unsophisticated sense, and yet is fresh and modern in the most sophisticated sense. He is a reminder that all these art historical labels like Romantic, Modern, Post-Modern are only theorists fictions, there to help us make sense of the world, but that do not correspond to anything actually out there, in the world,. However, these fictions will enslave us, as indeed they have so many, if we allow them to.

Here are the 8 symphonies. I love the last 4, and its good to have the others for accasional playing. this is a great value set - the sound is clear, and the playing enthusiastic. You can't go wrong.