Canto IV
![Empty sheet](/assets/empty-sheet-7e396cf059af8b92ca990bf5440ce8fee95c04e5aae20ba63f3a3426dcf87670.jpg)
Einojuhani Rautavaara
Canto IV
Description
The Cantos is a group of one-movement works for string orchestra which has gradually accumulated into a cycle over a number of years. Cantos I and II date from 1960, Canto III was written in 1972 and Canto IV as recently as 1992. The title is loaned from the cycle of poems by Ezra Pound bearing the same name. I have a high regard for Pound’s cycle and wanted to create a musical parallel to it which would reflect the ethos of this poetry — its multilayered nature, its references and allusions which are many and varied in time and setting — while still retaining the tight, homogeneous character of its structure. As with Pound’s cycle, these works, though created over a long period in chronological terms, are essentially personal statements — biographical one might say — which can fairly be described as one-movement symphonies in conception.
Canto IV is a typical product of the phase of synthesis which occurred in my music during the 1980's and 90's. My ideal was to create highly controlled and logical structures but avoid the starchiness which tends to result from dodecaphony or other ‘systems’. I wanted them to be like trees: growing and branching organically, in contrast to architectural forms. This is indeed what happened: the opening bars were the result of a morning whim, a poetic notion or veiled thought devoid of any conscious plan or goal. It wove itself gradually into something larger without me knowing for a long time what would come of it, until it finally announced its arrival as this snapshot out of life’s album, the Canto IV.
© Einojuhani Rautavaara
Cantos on vähitellen tullut yksiosaisten jousiorkesteriteosteni lajinimeksi. I ja II ovat jo vuodelta 1960, kolmas syntyi 1972 ja neljäs vasta 1992. Nimi on peräisin Ezra Poundin kuuluisasta runosarjasta Cantos. Pidin siitä paljon ja halusin tehdä musiikissa jotain rinnakkaista noiden laajojen runojen monitasoiselle, moneen suuntaan ja aikaan assosioivalle ja kuitenkin rakenteena ehdottoman kiinteälle muodolle. Pitkin aikavälein syntyneinä Cantos ovat, kuten Poundillakin, vahvasti henkilökohtaista, etten sanoisi elämäkerrallista sanontaa, eräänlaisia yksiosaisia jousisinfonioita.
Canto IV edustaa tyypillisesti 1980–90-lukujen synteesivaihetta musii-kissani. Ihanteena oli tehdä rakenne hallituksi ja loogiseksi, mutta ei jäykäksi dodekafonian tai muun ’järjestelmän’ tavoin. Halusin sen kasvavan puun lailla; orgaanisesti, ei arkkitehtonisesti. Ja todellakin; avaustahdit olivat erään aamun mieleenjohtuma, runollinen, verhottu ajatus vailla tietoista suunnitelmaa ja päämäärää. Se kehräytyi eteenpäin enkä pitkään aikaan tiennyt mitä siitä yleensä tulisi. Kunnes se kertoi olevansa ehkä tämän elämänvaiheen kuva, Canto IV.
© Einojuhani Rautavaara
Instrumentation
str
Category
Works for Orchestra or Large Ensemble
Premiere
Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, cond. Juha Kangas, Kokkola, October 9, 1993.
Commisioned by / dedications
Commissioned by the Finnish Broadcasting Company.