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On the Dramaturgy and Characters of KullervoThis story ends with the suicide of the main protagonist. If the action does not logically and inevitably lead to Kullervo’s self-destruction as a release from life, the story has no point.The elements of this work are fire and stone. Kullervo sets himself alight, and indeed his first conscious memory is of fire, because the home of his parents was destroyed amid flame and smoke. Where his heart should be, Kullervo bears a stone throughout his life. We do not know what it has been originally, but we constantly see the stony shell that the world has deposited upon it. Only once, in the bed of the Smith’s Young Wife, the stone is about to melt into flowing lava, but Kullervo’s impotence prevents even that. The stone is also the symbol of hardness: the Smith’s Wife bakes a stone inside Kullervo’s loaf of bread, and on the stone he breaks the knife he has inherited from his father.The fates of the various characters are interwoven, and so are the musical elements characteristic of them. Kimmo loves his childhood friend Kullervo with all the intensity of his honest and lyrical nature. It is not only possible, but inevitable, that his mind in the end cannot bear the dark progression of events. The Hunter is an everyday rogue who exploits every situation and always manages to survive. The relationship of Unto and his wife has something of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in it. The Smith’s Young Wife’s sensuousness is so strongly charged that when she has to choose between her property — her cattle — and the young man, she chooses the latter. And it is easy to see Kalervo’s inheritance in his son Kullervo. Neither is able to influence the world; on the contrary, the external world dominates them.Writing an opera is like a long journey. When you set out on it, you have only one aim: to reach your destination, to tell the story to its end. You must constantly be prepared for changes and surprises. That is what happened here, too: many things ended up differently from the original intention, yet something was preserved too. Four years ago, when I was contemplating the basis of the opera, I wrote: “It would hardly be worth telling this story if it did not have one song above all others. That is the Mother’s theme, woven in bright golden thread. In the shape of the monstrous, hapless man the Mother recognizes the long-lost little boy with glimmering flaxen hair.” Now, when the work is completed, I still feel the same. That is how he turned out.© Aulis Sallinen(for the premiere of the opera in Los Angeles, February 25, 1992)See Synopsis in English and Finnish

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Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin

Kullervo Op. 61