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Cantus Arcticus

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Cantus Arcticus
Concerto for Birds and Orchestra
by Einojuhani Rautavaara
The first seven bars of the first movement, "The Bog", of Cantus Arcticus, prefaced by the title of the work, its dedication, and for whom it was written.
The first seven bars of the first movement
EnglishArctic Song
Opus61
Year1972 (1972)
PeriodContemporary classical
Genre
Style
OccasionFirst doctoral conferment ceremony of Oulu University
Commissioned byOulu University
DedicationUrho Kekkonen
Published1972 (1972): Helsinki
PublisherEdition Fazer
Durationc. 18:00
Movements3
ScoringExperimental
InstrumentalOrchestra and tape-recorder
Premiere
Date18 October 1972
LocationOulu
ConductorStephen Portman
PerformersOulu Symphony Orchestra

Cantus Arcticus, also known as Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, is a three-part orchestral work by the Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara that incorporates tape recordings of birdsong.

Commissioned by Oulu University for its first doctoral conferment ceremony, Cantus Arcticus was premiered in Oulu on 18 October 1972 by the Oulu Symphony Orchestra conducted by Stephen Portman. The score was published the same year.[1] The work is dedicated to Urho Kekkonen, who was president of Finland at the time.[1]: 3 

Cantus Arcticus has enjoyed wide popularity.[2]: 200  The reasons cited include the work's resemblance to familiar tonal music; the way it links music with nature by using recorded birdsong; the novelty of combining such recordings with a live orchestra; and its association with an idealised and exoticised version of Finland's culture and landscape.[3]: 255–259  The work's appeal is also shown by its use in other musical contexts, including jazz compositions and film music.[3]: 257 

Composition

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In 1971, Oulu University commissioned Rautavaara to write a cantata for performance at its first doctoral conferment ceremony the following year. However, according to his authorised biographer, the composer failed to find a suitable text,[4] and the choir that was due to take part was "overworked and not in good vocal trim": this led him to use recordings of birdsong instead of human voices.[5]

Rautavaara copied some of the bird sounds heard in Cantus Arcticus from the sound-effects collection of Finnish Radio. He also visited the wetlands of Liminka Bay in northern Finland to record the sounds of cranes and other birds directly. The performance tape was assembled from these sources at the composer's home using two tape-recorders.[6]

Instrumentation

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The score specifies the following orchestra:[1]: 2 

Woodwinds
Flutes (2), oboes (2), clarinets in B♭ (2), bassoons (2).
Brass
French horns in F (2), trumpets in B (2), trombone.
Percussion/keyboard
Timpani,[a] cymbals, tam-tam, celesta.
Strings[b]
Violins, violas, cellos, double basses, harp.
Electroacoustic
Tape-recorder with 2 channels.[c]

Structure and content

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Cantus Arcticus has three movements:[6] The Bog,[d] Melancholy, and Swans Migrating.

The Bog

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The opening bar of the first movement is labelled "Think of autumn and of Tchaikovsky".[1]: 3  Evoking an atmosphere in this way, rather than referring to a narrative, is a feature of many of Rautavaara's works.[8]

The movement begins with a solo for two flutes played at a moderate andante tempo. The flutes follow each other in a birdsong-like melody, with the theme based on a chromatic scale.

First figuration in flutes' solo
\language "english" \relative c' { \new GrandStaff << \new Staff = "flute" \with { instrumentName = "Fl.1" midiInstrument= "flute" } { \clef "treble" \numericTimeSignature \tempo 4 = 88 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \time 3/4 f16([ b16 cs16 d16] ef16[ d16 cs16 a16] g16[ bf16 af16 gf16] f32) r16 r8 r4 r4 s4 s16 } \new Staff = "flute" \with { instrumentName = "Fl.2" midiInstrument= "flute" } { R2. f16( b16 cs16 d16 ef16 d16 cs16 a16 g16 bf16 af16 gf16 \bar "|" \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 f32) } >> }

The recorded birdsong forms the leading voice towards the end of the solo, and becomes louder as the woodwinds enter: these also imitate the sound of birds.[9]: 88 

Common Crane

For this section, the score states that while the sequence of instruments and the repeated group of notes played "must be as written", the conductor can decide the intervals between them. In addition, the muted trombone, entering just after the woodwinds, is instructed to "Try to imitate the staccato sound of the crane[10] heard later on the tape".[1]: 4 

Next, the strings enter with a lyrical, melancholic theme[6] that, according to the composer, "might be interpreted as the voice and mood of a person walking in the wilds".[7] This reaches a crescendo with the full orchestra before taken forward by the cellos. At the very end of the movement, the clarinet plays a variant of the flutes' solo from the opening bars: this creates symmetry in the movement by building a bridge back to its beginning.[9]: 89  The conductor can choose when the tape-recording, the clarinet, and the strings stop, and whether the music concludes in B or F.[1]: 16 

Melancholy

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Shore larks in Ystad, Sweden

According to the score at the start of the second movement, "The orchestra pauses, giving the audience time to notice that the birds on channels 1 and 2 are imitating each other".[1]: 17  The bird featured is a shore lark, and, states the composer, its song[11][12] has been slowed to lower the pitch by two octaves and make it a "ghost bird".[7]

After about a minute, the violins lead the strings (all are muted) in a series of ascending, falling, and constantly changing chords centred on A minor. The woodwinds enter soon after, and are joined by the brass in a crescendo before the music dies away.[6]

The use of muted strings, the paucity of expression markings within the score, and the lack of brass and percussion for most of the movement, all contribute to evoking "coldness, or an open location, that channels into a larger expression of melancholy".[3]: 267 

Swans Migrating

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Whooper swans in Oulu, Finland

In the third movement, the orchestra divides into four groups: I in the score refers to the violins and violas; the woodwinds are II; horns, cellos and double basses, III; and IV contains the harp and celesta.[1]: 21–30  The score states that these groups "are mutually synchronized only when so indicated",[1]: 30  giving the movement an aleatory flavour.[3]: 267 

The recorded sound of whooper swans begins the movement, and continues till its end. After half a minute or so, the strings (group I) join the swans, playing regular, gradually swelling chords that herald the entry of II's clarinet and flute. These play the same melody that the flute duo opened the first movement with, helping bind the three-part work into a whole.[9]: 90 

More woodwinds join the repetitive, birdsong-like figurations, which then combine with a theme performed by III, introduced by the horns.[1]: 26–27  The harp and celesta (IV) join soon after, and the orchestra becomes more synchronised from this point on.[3]: 268  The overall effect has been compared to "the fluid motion of one mass ... made up of separate parts, resembling birds in flight", [3]: 268  with the four groups "[occupying] the same space, overlapping without colliding – coordinated, but not perfectly in synch".[13]

Theme introduced by solo horns
\language "english" { \set Staff.midiInstrument=#"french horn" \time 4/2 \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4 = 118 g4( a4 g2)( g4) f4( g4 a4 % 1 g4 a4 g2)( g4) f4( g4 a4 % 2 bf4 c'4 bf4 a4 bf4 a4 g4 f4 % 3 \time 3/2 g4 a4 g4) % 4 }

The theme is repeated five times, with the trombone imitating the swans during the last repetition. A crescendo near the end creates the impression of an ever-increasing number of birds, and the piece concludes with a modified, descending version of the theme as the sounds of swans and orchestra slowly fade away.[6]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ May be omitted ("ad lib.")
  2. ^ Detailed in the score itself.
  3. ^ Allowing the performer to switch between two audio sources or to play back both at the same time.
  4. ^ Also referred to by the composer as The Marsh.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Einojuhani Rautavaara – Cantus Arcticus: Concerto for Birds and Orchestra (promotional copy)" (PDF) (full score). Helsinki: Fennica Gehrman. 2002 [Helsinki: Edition Fazer. 1972]. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
  2. ^ Korhonen, Kimmo [in Finnish] (2002). "New Music of Finland". In White, John D. (ed.). New Music of the Nordic Countries. New York: Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-1-576-47019-0. OCLC 49775382. Retrieved 30 March 2025 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Burton, Owen (June 2022). "Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus: National Exoticism or International Modernism?". Twentieth Century Music. 19 (2): 251–282. doi:10.1017/S1478572221000311. ISSN 1478-5730. Retrieved 30 March 2025 – via Cambridge Core.
  4. ^ Tiikkaja, Samuli (2014). Tulisaarna – Einojuhani Rautavaaran elämä ja teokset [Fire Sermon – The Life and Works of Einojuhani Rautavaara] (in Finnish). Helsinki: Teos. pp. 331–333. ISBN 978-9-518-51573-2. OCLC 897768095.
  5. ^ Tiikkaja, Samuli (2008). "Fortune's fantasy (on Einojuhani Rautavaara)". FMQ. No. 4. Translated by Susan Sinisalo. See section Death alights on his shoulder. ISSN 0782-1069. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e Aho, Kalevi & Anon (n.d.). "Cantus Arcticus : Description". Music Finland (in Finnish). Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  7. ^ a b c Rautavaar, Einojuhani (1998). "Cantus Arcticus, Concerto for Birds and Orchestra (1972)" in Einojuhani Rautavaara: Cantus Arcticus, Piano Concerto No. 1, Symphony No. 3 (CD liner notes). Naxos Records. p. 2. OCLC 812842688. 8.554147. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  8. ^ Potter, Keith (22 July 1999). "Finland's serial mystic". The Independent. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Bakke, Reidar (29 October 2009). "Naturen i Rautavaaras musikk [Nature in Rautavaara's music]". Studia Musicologica Norvegica [Norwegian Musicological Studies] (in Norwegian). 35 (1): 81–91. doi:10.18261/ISSN1504-2960-2009-01-06. ISSN 1504-2960.
  10. ^ Linjama, Tero (5 May 2011). "Common Crane Grus grus – flight call". xeno-canto (field recording). Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  11. ^ Watson, Chris (28 October 2013). "Tweet of the Day: Shore Lark". BBC Sounds (field recording). Archived from the original on 6 October 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  12. ^ Pieplow, Nathan (n.d.). "Horned Lark". BirdID (field recording). Nord University. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
  13. ^ Baber, Katherine (2019). "Cantus Arcticus: Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, op. 61" (programme note). Redlands Symphony. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2025 – via Internet Archive.
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