Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

composer.

Early years

Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelage of Martti Loikkanen, the boy's 4th grade teacher and founder of a local youth mandolin ensemble in

Forssa Forssa is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located almost in the centre of a triangle defined by the three largest major cities in Finland (Helsinki, Turku and Tampere), in the Tavastia Proper region, and which is crossed by Highway 2 ...

. After learning how to read sheet music, Aho immediately started composing. Aho progressed so fast on the instrument that Loikkanen suggested he study the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

as well, with Loikkanen giving him private lessons. Aho also began to learn violin at an incredible speed, with him later recalling, "Martti taught me at home for free until I started skipping him out of my playing skills and he suggested changing teachers." Aho's parents were quite supportive of his musical hobby, encouraging him to compose and giving him a piano at the age of 15.

Career

He moved from the city of Forssa to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

in September 1968 to study at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It al ...

. He studied composition at the

under

Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. ...

, beginning that year and receiving a diploma in 1971. He continued his studies for a year in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

with

Boris Blacher Boris Blacher (30 January 1975) was a German composer and librettist. Life Blacher was born when his parents (of German-Estonian and Russian backgrounds) were living within a Russian-speaking community in the Manchurian town of Niuzhuang () (h ...

. His teaching positions include music theory at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

from 1974 to 1988, and a professorship at the Sibelius Academy from 1988 to 1993. He was named composer-in-residence for the

Lahti Symphony Orchestra The Lahti Symphony Orchestra (''Sinfonia Lahti'') is a Finnish orchestra, based in the city of Lahti. The orchestra is resident at the Sibelius Hall. The orchestra was founded in 1910, and placed under the control of the Lahti municipality in 194 ...

in 1992, and conductor

Osmo Vänskä Osmo Antero Vänskä (born 28 February 1953) is a Finnish conductor, clarinetist, and composer. Biography Vänskä started his musical career as an orchestral clarinetist with the Turku Philharmonic (1971–76). He then became the principal cla ...

has recorded many of his recent large-scale works with the orchestra. Aho has worked as a freelance composer, with a state scholarship, since 1993. He lives in

Music

Known principally as a composer of large-scale works, Aho has composed seventeen symphonies, thirty-seven

concertos A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ty ...

, five

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s and several vocal works. His chamber music includes several

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

s, quartets, sonatas and solo works. He first came to fame with his first symphony (1969) and second string quartet (1970). His works of this time showed such neo-classical traits as a preoccupation with counterpoint (particularly fugues), and stylized renderings of older forms, such as the

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

. In the following decade he wrote in

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

and

post-modernist Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

styles. His use of irony and juxtaposition of contrasting moods and musical styles and genres has been compared to Gustav Mahler and

Alfred Schnittke Alfred Garrievich Schnittke (russian: Альфре́д Га́рриевич Шни́тке, link=no, Alfred Garriyevich Shnitke; 24 November 1934 – 3 August 1998) was a Russian composer of Jewish-German descent. Among the most performed and re ...

References

Literature

* Korhonen, Kimmo (1999)
Kalevi Aho in Profile.
Finnish Music Information Centre. Retrieved 8 February 2005. * Oramo, Ilkka. "Aho, Kalevi." a
Grove Music Online.
Retrieved 21 September 2006.

External links

Music Finland Core , Kalevi Aho.

Publisher's website with audio samples and promotional scores. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aho, Kalevi 1949 births Living people People from Forssa 20th-century classical composers 21st-century classical composers Finnish classical composers Finnish male classical composers Finnish opera composers Male opera composers Finnish mandolinists Finnish violinists 20th-century male musicians 21st-century male musicians 20th-century Finnish composers 21st-century Finnish composers