Aulis Sallinen - Songs of life and death, op.69 (1995): Songs 1-4

Aulis Sallinen - Songs of life and death, op.69 (1995): 1. Like floodwaters the days of my life - 4. Tuba mirum. Performed by Jorma Hynninen (baritone) with the Opera Festival Chorus & Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Okko Kamu. Recorded January 1995 at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, Finland. Record label: Ondine. This video of classical music is solely for personal educational purposes. No copyright infringement intended. Videos are always incidental extracts from published works. If you like the music, please consider supporting the artist and the label by buying the music. Discover more lesser known classical gems at ‪@gorgeousclassicalunknown‬ . From Wikipedia: Aulis Heikki Sallinen (born 9 April 1935) is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. His music has been variously described as "remorselessly harsh", a "beautifully crafted amalgam of several 20th-century styles", and "neo-romantic". Sallinen studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen. He has had works commissioned by the Kronos Quartet, and has also written seven operas, eight symphonies, concertos for violin, cello, flute, horn, and English horn, as well as several chamber works. He won the Nordic Council Music Prize in 1978 for his opera Ratsumies (The Horseman). His first instruments were violin and piano. He would play both jazz and classical music. He was known to be extremely creative and spent much time during his teenage years improvising. After a while, he began writing his ideas down on paper and began serious composition. He attended the Sibelius Academy of Music and studied with a number of prestigious teachers such as Aarre Merikanto and Joonas Kokkonen. After graduating, Sallinen took a position as composition teacher at the Sibelius Academy and continued composing. Among his pupils were i.e. the Austrian-born Finnish composer Herman Rechberger and Jouni Kaipainen. He was appointed as the general manager of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in 1960 and held the position until 1969. He was the chairman of the board of the Society of Finnish Composers between 1971 and 1974. Though he was a known teacher and was on many boards of directors, his compositions were not particularly noted until he was made "Artist Professor" by the Finnish government in 1976, letting him concentrate on composing. After receiving his lifelong art professorship, Sallinen devoted great amounts of time to composing. He has revived standard forms and harmonies, but he puts them together in contemporary ways. He has received a number of commissions from renowned ensembles and has composed eight symphonies, including one using material from a proposed ballet based on The Lord of the Rings and containing two mediaeval Finnish tunes from the Piae Cantiones. He has written seven operas and is well known as the composer of the title track of the Kronos Quartet's album Winter Was Hard.