(Photo: Laura Vuoma) Osmo Tapio Räihälä Suomeksi - In Finnish Osmo Tapio Räihälä site Born 1964 Composer, manager Osmo Tapio Räihälä is indeed not an heir to academic art music tradition. In the early eighties, his scene was punk rock and r&b influenced heavy rock in groups, based in Northern Finland. This environment gradually turned out to be too narrow and non-challenging for him. He did not "glide" into the contemporary art music by making more and more complex rock, but abandoned the rock scene quite abruptly. This background, of course, is by no means all too rare. However, he makes an exception in his profession by being almost completely an autodidact composer. The supervising that he received from composer Harri Vuori between 1992 and 1994 is practically the only education in composing that he has received, and it was quite informal, too. Räihälä did his academic studies in musicology. Apart from composing, his versatile contribution to the music life in Finland consists of work as a music journalist, forming the Uusinta Chamber Ensemble and being the manager of the Uusinta Publishing Company. Räihälä is thus one of the best-known DIY men in the Finnish music. Räihälä's music does not belong to any clear-cut school. His early output is quite heterogenous. There are, however, uniting factors, such as avoiding long lines and development. Small gestures often grow into individual musical figures but they are not developed. The compositions become chains of various events. There are exceptions to this, like the first string quartet ("Ever-tone", 1992/94) that in its three movements reflects a chant of the Liverpudlian football team Everton's fans from various perspectives. Räihälä's compositions are often relatively short, even fragmentary, like the four-minute-long orchestra piece Hinchcliffe Thumper - tha' Bloody Intermezzo (1993). His works are often free tonal by harmony, without clear tonal centres. Their form is not strictly structured either, apart from Spinoza's Web (1996) for clarinet, horn and violin. The titles of Räihälä's works are often inspired by details that can be tracked back to Everton. However, extra-musical things have not forced their way into his music. The time-scale of Räihälä's compositions has enlarged from Conatus (1997) for chamber ensemble. He has started drawing longer and broader lines. In the meantime, his music has gained wider foothold on foreign soil, too. His music has been performed in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Holland, Switzerland, the Republic of Ireland, and the Czech Republic, apart from the other Nordic countries. Whereas his output used to consist mostly of chamber music, the number of orchestral compositions has grown. In Barlinnie Nine (1999), the stop-start nature of musical motifs is indeed purposeful. Of his two concerto works, the Mallet Concerto (1999) is more traditional with its three movements, whereas Håkan en Belgique (2002) for viola and orchestra is in its chain of happenings more like instrument theatre. Chamber music has, however, had a major role in Räihälä's more recent works, too. The most notable compositions include Rampant (1997) for two solo violins, percussion quintet Chadwick Drive (1997), and especially Damballa (2000) for flute, oboe, clarinet and violin, and Barlinnie Nine. The latter alerted the British media, who were quick to point out the merger of contemporary art music and football. The focal points of Räihälä's musical language are easy approachability and the clearness of musical figures - all without being superficial. Works published by Uusinta Orchestral Barlinnie Nine (1999) For symphony orchestra Ardbeg (2003) For symphony orchestra Mallet Concerto (1999/2002) Concerto for marimba, vibraphone and xylophone Håkan en Belgique (2002) Viola concerto Rock Painting (2003) For chamber orchestra Chamber Music Spinoza's Web (1996) Clarinet, horn and violin Rampant (1997) Two solo violins Chadwick Drive (1997) Percussion quintet Satan Moves To Espoo (1997/2000) Piano trio Damballa (2000) Flute, oboe, clarinet and violin Jobimaõ (2000) String quartet 2 Ataraxy - Apathy - Autarchy ("Stoa Trilogy") (2002) Violin and piano Gentle Giant (2004) For kantele and vibraphone Solo Works Dorean Dumble Dorean (2001) Guitar solo King of Lycksele (2002) Cello solo Emperor of Vuokki (2004) Violin solo Three Newest Pieces for Solo Violin (2002) Pedagogical Contact: Osmo Tapio Räihälä