Armas Launis (1884-1959) - Finnish Opera composer

[M. Henriksen]

It's been waiting in the shelf for some time, but yesterday evening it was time for listening to the opera "Aslak Hetta" (recorded by Ondine) by the Finnish composer Armas Launis. And since the composer is not mentioned on this forum, I decided to start a new topic to present the composer and the above-mentioned recording.

Armas Launis seems to have been a cosmopolitan, coming from a wealthy family he travelled around the world and occupied himself with composing, exploring, journalism, teaching etc.
He started off as Finland's leading opera composer, but especially after moving to France in 1930 Launis and his music was forgotten. A fate he shared with my countrymen Gerhard Schjelderup (1859-1933) and Alfred Andersen-Wingar (1869-1952). They all concentrated on Opera and spent large parts of their lives outside the boundaries of their home countries.

The three composers have more in common; A great admiration for Richard Wagner's music dramas.
Armas Launis wrote his own librettos and used leitmotives. At the same time he used highly varied sources of inspiration for his operas, "a result was that his musical idiom was in a constant state of flux" (as the CD-booklet tells me).

Biographical introductions to the composer can be found at the Finnish Music Information Centre and Wikipedia:

http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/0/B867F4E629203719C22575350046C0FD?opendocument&cat=contemporary_-_classical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armas_Launis


Now the opera "Aslak Hetta":

Composed in the late 1920's this opera takes its story from the Kautokeino-uprising in Norwegian Lapland in 1852. A group of Sami reindeer-herders led by Aslak Hetta made an uprising against the local authorities killing two people in the process. The uprising itself was a result of several things, social oppression of the Sami people, religious fanaticism and so on. Anyway, as a result of all this Aslak Hetta was executed along with his compatriot Mons Somby. Armas Launis adds on a little love story and voilà: A Libretto!

For those interested in the authentic story:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_revolt_in_Guovdageaidnu

The opera wasn't performed before Sakari Oramo and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra played the work in March 2004.
Which brings us to the Ondine recording, recorded shortly before and after the premiere (this is not a live recording).
The Ondine-team has put a lot of effort in this 2 disc release, the booklet includes synopsis and complete libretto in Finnish, English, German and French plus several photos taken by Armas Launis in his journeys in the Kautokeino area in 1904 and the early 1920s.
"Aslak Hetta" is an 3-Act opera with a total duration of approximately 2 hours.

The sound is crystal-clear, and I have no complaints about the orchestra. The singers have several challenges on their way, so there are a few examples of "pushed to the limits-singing".

The music: The booklet says that the work is based on six authentic Sami melodies, making the opera "a unique blend of Wagnerian Leitmotiv and Sami folklorism". And so it is! Late romantic music, full of memorable tunes. I'm happy!
Details about the recording and excerpts can be found here:
http://www.amazon.com/Armas-Launis-Aslak-Jaakko-Kortekangas/dp/B0007SMD7I/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1302022728&sr=1-1

Launis did compose other music than operas. There's a recording of his "Suite nordique" for violin and strings on this Alba disc:
http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/St-Michel-Strings-Musica-Fennica/hnum/8177127

OK, I've never written such an extensive post ever. I guess there is some bad, bad English in here somewhere


Morten

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Many many thanks, Morten, for this post. Personally I very much appreciate the length of the post, the care you've taken, and the links provided. A gem!

I acquired the Ondine set soon after it was released in 2005 - as you say, that recording followed on from the production of the opera. I was deeply impressed - by the opera itself, the performance of it, and the lavish treatment with which Ondine presented it. The orchestral playing is simply tremendous - and what a score!

Over the last 10 years or so there have been a series of really good and exciting operas recorded by Ondine, and it was on the strength of that which led me to this opera (I'd never heard of Launis before, nor any of his other compositions). Have you heard of any whispers about possible productions of any of his other operas in Finland?

Incidentally I haven't carefully counted them, or their frequency, but I get the impression that the series of operas released by Ondine have slowed down a little in the last two years or so (although we've just had the early Rautavaara 'Kaivos'). But against that the rate of new productions - judged by festival websites - seems to be the same as throughout the last 10 year period. If I'm right, does that indicate any change of policy at Ondine? I do hope not! They have also released a couple of things in DVD versions only. And that to me is irritating and disappointing. My brain and general psychology just doesn't enable me to cope with the 'visual' - it distracts from what I hear. (But that is another post!)

I hope friends on UC might give 'Aslak Hetta' a go. It is a rewarding piece!

[Alan Howe]

Thanks are due to both of you for drawing our attention to Launis' opera in such a thorough and interesting manner. It's certainly gone on my wish-list!

[tpaloj]

Launis is an extraordinary figure in the history of Finnish music, and it's regrettable he is almost completely forgotten today even in Finland. The recording of "Aslak Hetta" is a truly wonderful achievement. I'm sorry for digging up this very old thread, but having studied Launis' music a little recently I wanted to add to the discussion here – not only as a reminder to encourage everyone to give the Ondine Aslak Hetta a try – but with some info on his other operas:


The first – Seitsemän veljestä – set to A. Kivi's novel, was premiered in Helsinki in 1913 and was a mixed success. While Launis was praised for attempting the almost impossible task in setting Kivi's novel to opera, the source material is not that well suited to a dramaturgic adaptation and the music itself was seen as too serious for a self-described comic opera. Launis innovated in the area of spoken recitative in this opera but this also received mixed reactions. The piano score has been published, and its full autograph manuscript (!) has been digitized in full color. https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/70821

In 1917 Launis' second opera Kullervo was premiered in Helsinki to great success. The piano score has been published.

Aslak Hetta (1922) was his third opera and the first one to witness no performances during the composer's lifetime. There were serious attempts at staging it in Paris, but those plans for some reason or another fell through in the end to Launis' disappointment. The piano score has been published, and as we know the whole opera was recorded in 2004 (though comparing to the published piano score I noticed nearly all spoken recitative sections were truncated in length or cut).

As for his fourth opera Noidan laulu (1934) (The Witch's Song), its subject matter is medieval witch trials. The music is described as archaic, approaching baroque style at places. It has never been published, performed or recorded. An "Andante religioso" (based on Bach's b-minor prelude) number taken from this opera was arranged by Launis for solo violin and orchestra and piano.

The fifth finished opera – Karjalainen taikahuivi (1937) (The Karelian Magic Scarf) – is a comic opera in two acts. As with Aslak Hetta, which draws inspiration from Lappisch traditional music, this opera is based on Karelian and Ingrian folk music and themes. The famous rune-singer Larin Paraske makes an appearance as one of its characters. There is a great "song-fighting" scene, lots of spoken recitative, village dances and an eccentric story centered around romance, folklore and witchcraft. While the whole opera is essentially completed, its autograph manuscript is seriously untidy at places and is lacking in details. It has never been published, performed or recorded.

During the late 1930s, Launis composed sketches for three unfinished operas. Kesä jota ei koskaan tullut (The summer that never came) - only in sketches; Oli kerran... (Once upon a time...) - a fairy tale opera in three acts, in complete piano score but largely unorchestrated; and Theodora - only in draft piano score.

Launis' final opera Jehudith (1937-40) is his unquestioned masterpiece. Launis had plans to have it performed in Paris but ultimately only a few sections were recorded for French radio in the 1950s. It's a fictional story with some biblical subjects, throughly seeped in African mysticism and folklore from ages past, so perfectly realised in music and complimented by an excellent libretto that it's the greatest shame this opera has never been performed.


To sum it up, we should hope to expect Jehudith (it's currently being typeset), and with chance perhaps Kullervo (ms performance materials exist) to be performed/recorded some day in the future. I have no high hopes to hear any of the other ones: Seitsemän veljestä by all accounts is not very good, Noidan laulu is too obscure, and Karjalainen taikahuivi... is never going to happen, though it would be fun to see an opera cast clad in traditional Karelian costumes on stage drinking, dancing and casting magic spells on each other for two hours.

[eschiss1]

thanks!
when I saw "Launis" I thought Estonian, not Finnish, but the languages are somewhat related I think? Anyhow.
Intriguing. Will listen to and look further into this fellow I think. What's his non-operatic output like, btw?

[tpaloj]

What's his non-operatic output like, btw?

Not much besides his operas. There's an early unpublished Piano Quartet (preview score @ https://core.musicfinland.fi/works/pianokvartetto-43b07814-4d59-4ede-a536-eadae443a3cc + https://core.musicfinland.fi/works/nocturno-38b4573f-6f28-4608-acbf-5c2fbb4188d2). A couple of suites. A few occasional works such as wedding marches, cantatas and songs. "Suite nordique" for violin and strings as been recorded.