Hyperion Records

The diminutive Suite de Lorca (1973) is a prime example of just how difficult it is to predict what will become a hit. Rautavaara wrote the piece as a companion to his Children’s Mass and entered both in a composition competition organized by his home city of Espoo. Rautavaara had no great expectations regarding the Suite. But while the Mass won first prize, it is rarely performed nowadays; the Suite won third prize yet is today one of the most popular Finnish choral works of all time.

This may have something to do with how the piece packs a considerable impact in its short duration. Consisting of four brief but intense pieces, it is essentially a study in the use of symmetrical scales (alternating tones and semitones). Canción de jinete (‘Riding song’) is based on a monomaniac galloping rhythm, while El grito (‘The scream’) is based on, well, a scream. La luna asoma (‘The moon rises’) features ‘moon music’ foreshadowing similar passages on similar texts in Katedralen and Canción de nuestro tiempo, while the parallel chords of Malagueña mimic the strumming of a guitar.

from notes by Jaakko Mäntyjärvi © 2010