Symmetrical Elements in the Piano Music of Einojuhani Rautavaara

Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928 – 2016) is regarded as one of the most internationally successful composers from Finland since Jean Sibelius. He is widely known for his pluralistic compositions that do not follow a linear progression of stylistic development and that exhibit a synthesis of seemingly contradictory compositional styles in his mature works. Despite the rapid changes of styles, Rautavaara retains certain characteristics that set his music apart from that of others. One of these elements that remained consistent throughout his career is his fascination with symmetry. From the Three Symmetrical Preludes during his student years to his late piano miniatures, symmetrical compositional tools such as the bilateral keyboard symmetry remained a key component in his piano works. Although Rautavaara’s piano output is small compared to other genres, it is scattered throughout various stylistic periods in his life, making it possible to observe the similarities and changes in his writing. The goal of this research is to observe and study how the composer developed and utilized symmetry in his compositions through analysis of selected solo piano works from the early to the late period. As the research centers on symmetry, the works chosen for analysis will be the ones that contain significant amounts of symmetrical writings, namely the Three Symmetrical Preludes (1949–50), selections from Etudes (1969), Piano Sonata No. 1 (1969), Narcissus (2001), and Mirroring (2014). This research also provides an opportunity to study Rautavaara’s lesser-known piano works, as well as providing a first look at Mirroring, his very last work for solo piano. The concluding chapter considers the symbolisms in symmetry as well as interpretive choices and pedagogical merits of symmetrical structures in Rautavaara’s solo piano music.

Department dc:contributor.department

Music

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Li, Matthew Ming

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• McClelland, Ryan

• Contemporary music
• Einojuhani Rautavaara
• Finnish composer
• Keyboard symmetry
• Piano
• Symmetry

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/92159

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/92159