Väinö Raitio

Väinö Raitio (April 15, 1891 – September 10, 1945) was part of the small group of composers who appeared in the Finnish art music scene in the 1920s with a new cosmopolitan music style, much different from the dominating conservative National Romanticism.

Raitio's career as a composer reached its peak in the 1920s when eight large symphonic poems appeared from his pen. Influenced by Scriabin, his style was too modern for the Nordic music circles, and his orchestral work "Joutsenet (The Swans, Les Cygnes)" of 1919 remained as the sole orchestral work to be published (in 1938).

Raitio's profile as a composer degraded into smaller works for smaller ensembles in the 1930s and 1940s. In the private side, however, much effort was done by the composer to write operatic works. Still today, the five operas are only known by the composer's hand-written manuscripts.

Works

Early period (-1919)
*"Violin Sonata in F sharp minor
*"String Quartet in G minor
*"Piano concerto op 6
*"Poème for cello and orchestra op 7
*"Symphonic Ballade op 9
*"Symphony op 13

Reaching maturity (1919-1920s)
*"Joutsenet op 15 ('The Swans'/'Les Cygnes')
*"Piano Quintet in C sharp minor, op 16
*"Nocturne op 17
*"Fantasy for quintet op 19
*"Fantasia estatica op 21
*"Four Colour poems for piano op 22
*"Antigone Trilogy op 23
*"Moonlight on Jupiter op 24
*"Fantasia poetica op 25
*"The Pyramide for mixed choir and orchestra op 27
*"The Avenue for soprano and orchestra op 29

Back to traditional forms (1930s-40s)
*"Suite Summer Scenes from Häme
*"Forest Idylls
*"Scherzo - Felix dosmetica
*"Legend for violin and orchestra
*"Double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra
*"The Maids on the Headlands
*"Idyll
*"Notturno for violin and orchestra
*"Serenata for violin and orchestra
*"Fantasy for cello, harp and orchestra

Stage works
*"5 Operas:
** "Jeftan tytär" ("The Daughter of Jephtha"), op. 30 (1929)
** "Prinsessa Cecilia" ("Princess Cecilia") (1933)
** "Lyydian kuningas" ("The King of Lydia") (1937)
** "Väinämöisen kosinta" ("Väinämöinen’s Proposal") (1934–1936)
** "Kaksi kuningatarta" ("The Two Queens')
*"Ballet, The Waterspout ('Vesipatsas')
*"Le ballet grotesque

[http://www.vainoraitio.org Väinö Raitio Society (mostly in Finnish)]
[http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/mainframe2?readform&raitiovaino Finnish Music Information Centre's page on Raitio]