Recorded live at the University of Akron on March 16, 2013. Peformers: Shari Jefferson, flute, bass flute, and piccolo Megan Denman, piano Colin Dees, percussion About the composer: Einojuhani Rautavaara, born in 1928 in Helsinki, Finland, is perhaps the most well-known contemporary Finnish composer today. He has studied at the Sibelius Academy and the Juilliard School with such distinguished composers as Aaron Copland, Roger Sessions, and Jean Sibelius himself. A very prolific composer, his works list inclues 10 operas, 8 symphonies, concerti, several band pieces, choral works, and many chamber pieces. Though he experimented with serialism early in his career, by the 1960s his style had settled into one often described as mystical and austere. About the piece: His Concerto for Flutes and Orchestra (1973) employs the use of all four standard flutes, pushing each to its limits in range and dynamics. The first movement, Andantino, begins with a short flute cadenza quickly whirling up into an orchestral sound full of drama and mysticism. A middle section featuring the bass flute follows before the C flute ends the movement. The Vivace features the piccolo in a slightly manic, carnival-inspired theme while the alto flute dominates the third movement with a soulful, choral-like melody. The final movement begins with a cataclysmic piano crescendo before the bass flute brings back the mysticism of the first movement, only interrupted by a C flute middle section reminiscent of the piccolo theme. The piece ends with a dark Bb minor chord while the soloist remains alienated playing a long D natural that fades back into silence. Movements: I. Andantino II. Vivace