Mikko Heiniö (1948)

Picture: Maarit Kytöharju/Fimic

Mikko Heiniö studied piano with Liisa Pohjola and composition with Joonas Kokkonen at the Sibelius Academy from 1971 to 1975. The two years 1975–77 were spent with the Polish teacher Witold Szalonek in Berlin. Heiniö also studied musicology at the University of Helsinki, finishing his doctoral thesis in 1984 and working as Professor of musicology at the University of Turku from 1985 to 2005. He has been the president of Finnish Composers Society since 1992 and vice president of the authors rights society since 1999. The main pieces of his music are his orchestral works such as eight piano concertos, Vuelo de Alambre (cycle for voice and orchestra, 1983), two symphonies (Possible Worlds 1987 and Song of Night and Love 1997) and violin concerto Alla Madre (2006). In recent years, Heiniö has been gearing towards musical theatre, composing for dance theatre, a church opera (The Knight and the Dragon, 2000) for Turku Cathedral´s 700th anniversary and The Hour of the Serpent (2002-2005), an opera commissioned by the
Finnish National Opera.

Envelope

Envelope is an ouverture which doesn't just come before a classical concerto but envelops it totally. The piece begins with my music, proceeds without a break, slipping to Haydn's trumpet concerto as painlessly as possible and ends with my music again. I have also added a cadenza to the Haydn concerto and written bridge passages between the movements. The solo trumpet does feature in my music, too, at the turning points in the narrative, but it is the constant focus of attention only in the Haydn concerto. I use Haydn’s themes as structures embedded deep in the fabric rather than as underlined melodies. My music envelops Haydn’s not only in time but in space as well. The only instruments on the platform are those needed for the Haydn concerto, plus a piano, a harp and one percussionist. The other instruments are placed around the audience. The space, the echoes and the direction and movement of the sound thus acquire greater-than-usual significance as musical factors.

I have written a number of piano concertos that diverge from the generic tradition in their very instrumentation: no.4 (Genom kvällen) mixed choir and strings, no. 6 (Hermes) soprano and strings, no. 7 (Khora) five percussion players, no. 8 (Moon Concerto) mezzo-soprano and orchestra. Added to which, the 6th and 7th concertos were designed for a dance theatre. The violin concerto Alla madre begins like any orchestral work, and the soloist only gradually joins in. The concerto’s individuality is hidden in the dramaturgical relationship between solo and orchestra. The soloist’s job should be challenging and rewarding as regards the overall artistic expression, to which the virtuosity is subordinate.

www.fimic.fi/heinio