Osmo Tapio Räihälä (; born 15 January 1964) is a Finnish

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

. He has written

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

, as well as several

concerto 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 ...

s and a few works for

symphony orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

Life and career

Räihälä was born in

Suomussalmi Suomussalmi () is a municipality in Finland located in the Kainuu region about northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...

. He has studied under Harri Vuori. He began as a rock musician, only turning into art music in his late teens. His best-known work is the 2005 orchestral portrait '' Barlinnie Nine'', a tribute to the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player

Duncan Ferguson Duncan Cowan Ferguson (born 27 December 1971) is a Scottish football coach and former player. He began his career at Dundee United in 1990, and moved to Rangers in 1993 for what was then a British transfer record fee. He spent the remainder o ...

, then of Everton, whom Räihälä is known to be a supporter of. In 2004, another orchestral tribute, this time to the

Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...

single malt whisky Ardbeg, was chosen as one of recommended works in the international

Uuno Klami Uuno (Kalervo) Klami (20 September 1900 – 29 May 1961) was a Finnish composer of the modern period. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish composers to emerge from the generation that followed Jean Sibelius. Klami was ...

competition. The French horn concerto received the same accolade in 2014. Apart from the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

, Räihälä's music has been performed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and many other countries. The first CD recording of his works, ''

Rock Painting In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

'', was released in 2006, and the following, '' Peat, Smoke & Seaweed Storm'' in 2014. As of 2015, Räihälä's music is represented by the German publisher Sikorski Musikverlage. In 1998 he started the Uusinta Ensemble, a group focusing on contemporary art music. Räihälä is also known as a writer of music in Finland. His first book ''Miksi nykymusiikki on niin vaikeaa'' hy Is Contemporary Music So Difficultwon the prestigious

Finlandia Prize The Finlandia Prize (; ) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious in the nation, they are awarded annually in ...

book award in

nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...

category in 2021.

Personal life

Räihälä stated in an interview with ''Sikorski'' magazine that he has

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

Discography

* ''Saatana saapuu Turkuun'' (KACD2001-2, 1999) * ''Chadwick Drive'' (FFCD1025, 1999) * ''Damballa'' (UUCD101, 2004) * ''

'' (UUCD103, 2006) * '' Peat, Smoke & Seaweed Storm'' (ABCD367, 2014) * ''L'homme à la licorne'' (OPTCD-15013, 2015) * ''Kirkasvetinen'' (AVI8553408, 2018) * ''Kalliokirskuja'' (WREC1, 2020) * '' Zensolence'' (0022030KAI, 2024)

References

External links

Osmo Tapio Räihälä homepage

Räihälä on Boosey&Hawkes's page

Räihälä on Music Finland

{{DEFAULTSORT:Räihälä, Osmo Tapio Finnish male composers 20th-century Finnish classical composers 21st-century Finnish classical composers Postmodern composers 1964 births Living people People from Suomussalmi Finnish male classical composers 20th-century Finnish male musicians 21st-century Finnish male musicians