Author Archives: Ilkka Oramo

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About Ilkka Oramo

Professor of Music Theory, emeritus

Why You Cannot Leave Sibelius Out

Posted on 09/20/2010 by Ilkka Oramo

My title is appropriated from Richard Taruskin’s keynote lecture at the 2006 Bartók conference in Budapest, substituting Sibelius for Bartók.[1] His title pertains to the astonishing omission of Bartók from the recent Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music;[2] mine to the … Continue reading →

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Aho, Kalevi

Posted on 10/22/2008 by Ilkka Oramo

Published in print: 20 January 2001, Published online: 2001; updated, 22 October 2008 (b Forssa, March 9, 1949). Finnish composer. He studied composition with Einojuhani Rautavaara at the Sibelius Academy (diploma, 1971) and in Berlin with Boris Blacher(1971–2). From 1974 to 1988 he taught music theory at the Helsinki University … Continue reading →

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Lindberg, Magnus

Posted on 10/01/2008 by Ilkka Oramo

(b Helsinki, 27 June 1958). Finnish composer. He studied piano (Maija Helasvuo and Sebök) and composition (Rautavaara and Heininen) at the Sibelius Academy (1977–81), continued his studies of composition with Globokar and Grisey in Paris (1981–2) and attended courses by … Continue reading →

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Introduction to Magnus Lindberg

Posted on 06/21/2008 by Ilkka Oramo

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! 0. Welcome to the San Francisco Symphony’s Inside Music talks, presented an hour before each regular subscription concert. My name is Ilkka Oramo. I am an academic from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and I … Continue reading →

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Zum Hinschied Leonard B. Meyers

Posted on 03/01/2008 by Ilkka Oramo

Im Editorial ihres Magazins vom 4.1.2008, ”Zum Hinschied Leonard B. Meyers” (http://www.codexflores.ch/index.php/editorials/377-zum-hinschied-leonard-b-meyers), das mir unversehens begegnet ist, wird eine Textpassage zitiert, die angeblich dem Buch ”Emotion and Meaning in Music” (1956) von Leonard B. Meyer entstammt und auf deren Grund … Continue reading →

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The Sibelius Problem

Posted on 10/01/2007 by Ilkka Oramo

‘Whatever became of Jean Sibelius? For the first half of the 20th century, the square-headed Finn was the totemic symbol of a heroic nation and the most admired living symphonist,’ wrote Norman Lebrecht in June 2007. ‘Today, half a century … Continue reading →

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Luigi Dallapiccola: Piccola musica notturna (1954)

Posted on 10/01/2007 by Ilkka Oramo

The title of Dallapiccola’s “Little Night Music” is Mozartian, but the music itself is of another kind than that of Mozart’s renowned serenade. It is closer to Bartók’s night music topos. Its origin lies in Antonio Machado’s poem Noche de … Continue reading →

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Jean Sibelius: Pohjola’s Daughter, Op. 49 (1905–06)

Posted on 10/01/2007 by Ilkka Oramo

Composed: 1905–1906 Length: c. 15 minutes Orchestration: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, and strings Since Sibelius’s sketches became available for … Continue reading →

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Jean Sibelius: Symphony No. 4 in A minor, Op. 63 (1911)

Posted on 10/01/2007 by Ilkka Oramo

Composed: 1911 Length: c. 35 minutes Orchestration: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombobes, timpani, orchestra bells, and strings In the years 1909–11 the Fourth Symphony was Sibelius’s first priority. But he was … Continue reading →

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The Twin Symphonies

Posted on 10/01/2007 by Ilkka Oramo

In the summer of 1914, after having returned from America, where he had conducted the world premiere of his tone poem The Oceanides, Op. 73 (1914) at the Norfolk Festival, Sibelius began to work on his Fifth Symphony. The first … Continue reading →

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