How can one adequately describe the work of a composer like Einojuhani Rautavaara? Well-known stories might offer some insight: for example, how Jean Sibelius secured him a scholarship to study in the United States. Rautavaara, born on October 9, 1928, in Helsinki, studied at the Sibelius Academy and later at the Juilliard School in New York. He described himself as a Romantic and even a mystic, a sentiment reflected in the titles of his works, such as "Angels and Visitations" and "Angel of Dusk."
Rautavaara is considered one of the most important Finnish composers after Sibelius. His extensive oeuvre includes eight symphonies, nine operas, and fifteen concertos, as well as numerous vocal and chamber works. His early compositions utilize twelve-tone serial techniques, while his later works can be described as neo-Romantic and mystical. Among his most important works are his first piano concerto (1969), "Cantus Arcticus" (1972), and his seventh symphony, "Angel of Light" (1994).
His musical training began at the age of seventeen with piano studies, followed by studies in musicology at the University of Helsinki and composition at the Sibelius Academy. From 1951 to 1953, he studied with Aarre Merikanto and received his diploma in composition in 1957. In 1955, Sibelius selected him for a Koussevitzky Foundation scholarship, which enabled him to study with Vincent Persichetti at the Juilliard School. He also participated in summer courses at Tanglewood led by Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland. He continued his studies in 1957 with Vladimir Vogel in Ascona, Switzerland, and a year later with Rudolf Petzold in Cologne.
Rautavaara taught and taught as a professor of composition at the Sibelius Academy. Since 1988, he lived as a freelance composer in Helsinki. He was married twice: from 1959 to 1984 to Mariaheidi Suovanen, and from 1984 to Sinikka Koivisto. He had three children from these marriages, including Markojuhani.
Rautavaara died on July 27, 2016, at the age of 87 in Helsinki. He leaves behind a rich musical legacy that is internationally acclaimed and frequently performed. Despite being described as a "mystic," he was a complex and contradictory figure whose works defy easy stylistic categorization.