Paavo Heininen

Paavo Heininen in 1982.

Paavo Johannes Heininen (born January 13, 1938 in Helsinki ) is a Finnish composer , pianist and university professor .

life and work

Heininen studied composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, a. a. at Aarre Merikanto , at the Juilliard School in New York with Vincent Persichetti and at the Cologne University of Music, a. a. with Bernd Alois Zimmermann . As a pianist, among other things, he performed as a soloist at the world premiere of his own works. Heininen initially taught at the music school in Turku and was from 1966 a lecturer, later professor of composition at the Sibelius Academy.

Heininen is considered to be one of the most consistent representatives of a modernist style in Finland , particularly influenced by the French and German serial music of the 1950s and 1960s; in this respect he is playing a pioneering role there. There are, however, other elements in his work; thus there are some neoclassical echoes, and he received important suggestions from Witold Lutosławski .

Even though Heininen received numerous commissions as a composer at an early stage and his music was regularly performed, in his home country he was long considered a “difficult” or “controversial” composer who often felt misunderstood. Nevertheless, he has long been regarded as one of the most influential personalities in Finnish post-war music history. In 1983 he received a 15-year artist grant from the Finnish state, one of the most important awards given in Finland.

His main works include two operas, five symphonies, four piano concertos as well as numerous other orchestral, choral and chamber music compositions. Although Heininen sometimes uses computer programs as an aid in composition, he has only published a few electronic works.

His influence as a teacher on the following generations of composers in Finland is enormous. His most famous students include Magnus Lindberg , Kaija Saariaho and Veli-Matti Puumala ; in addition, a large number of the younger Finnish composers were his students for a shorter or longer period of time.

Compositions (selection)

Stage works

• Silkkirumppu ( Die Seidentrommel ) (1981–83), opera (referred to as a “concert for singers, actors, words, images and movements”), libretto: Paavo Heininen and Eeva-Liisa Manner based on a Japanese Nō play
• Veitsi ( The Knife ) (1985–88), opera, libretto: Veijo Meri

orchestra

• 5 symphonies (No. 1: 1958, rev. 1960; No. 2: 1962; No. 3: 1969, rev. 1977; No. 4: 1971; No. 5: 2001/02)
• Adagio ... concerto per orchestra in forma di variazioni ... (1963, rev. 1966)
• Slide (1979)
• Series of works op. 66a-i (since 1994), mainly for string or chamber orchestra

Solo concerts

• 4 piano concertos (No. 1: 1964, No. 2: 1966, No. 3: 1981, No. 4: 2001–05)
• Saxophone Concerto (1983)
• Cello Concerto (1985)
• Tuuminki (A Notion ... of what might have been Aarre Merikanto's 3rd violin concerto) for violin and orchestra (1993)
• Violin Concerto (1999)

Choir

• Eläinten Te Deum ( Te Deum of the Animals ) (2000–) for solos, choir and orchestra

Chamber music

• String Quartet No. 1 Kwartet smyczkowy (1974), No. 2 Anadyr.mpl (1992–94)
• String Quintet (2001)
• Piano trio pu-na-kert-tu-set jo .. (2002–03)

Solo works

• Poesia squillante ed incandescente - Sonata per pianoforte (1974)

literature

• Kalevi Aho: Paavo Heininen basic sheet in the lexicon of contemporary composers . edition text + kritik, Munich 1992–, ISBN 978-3-86916-062-7
• Jan Blomstedt: Heinistä kuunnellessa . WSOY, Helsinki 2006, ISBN 951-0-31582-6 (extensive, but partly rather anecdotal biography in Finnish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Erkki Salmenhaara (ed.): Suomalaisia ​​säveltäjiä . Otava, Helsinki 1994, ISBN 951-112641-5 , pp. 102 .

Web links

• Paavo Heininen at FIMIC.