SKU: HL.48025398

UPC: 196288195504.

The composer, whose family was severely affected by the Second World War and the Holocaust, considers his Anne Frank Suite as a “personal memorial diary and a reminder in view of the futility of war”. The score is prefaced by a quotation from Anne Frank: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart”, which has impressed the composer since his youth. His three-movement suite attempts to musically reflect the emotionality and thoughtfulness of the theme, which eludes all words. The piano is treated in a classical manner and creates the emotional space for the solo cello. Playing in a high register in a cantabilestyle over long passages, the cello also astounds with sound effects, harmonics and an expressive solo cadenza in the middle of the work.

SKU: FG.55011-609-2

ISBN 9790550116092.

Auli s Sallinen (b. 1935) is one of the most famous Finnish contemporary composers. In his early instrumental works, Sallinen was still seeking to establish a style of his own. He had studied at the Sibelius Academy in the late 1950s, first with Aarre Merikanto - a composer representing a national brand of Neoclassicism - and then with Joonas Kokkonen, at that time just transitioning from Neoclassicism to dodecaphony. Twelve-tone music had won fairly widespread acceptance in contemporary Finn-ish music, and Sallinen was influenced, too. The Variations are Sallinen's first real work for the cello - an instrument that would later be one of his favourites, its warm, deep voice corres-ponding to his music's often dark undercurrent.

The Variations for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 5 were composed in 1961-1962 and premiered in October 1962. The basic motif consists of a set of three descending intervals stated by the cello at the beginning: D-D flat-F, C-B-G and B flat-A-F sharp. Their use as basic material is a ref-lection of the composer's dodecaphony-oriented period, and variation of this material provides the framework for the piece.

Variations for Cello and Orchestra are now published for the first time. Available are a reduction for cello and piano, study score and complete performance material with orchestra.