A complete list of Raihala’s works can be found at the

Finnish Music Information Centre

Here you can find a selection of works.

ORCHESTRAL WORKS

Barlinnie Nine (1999/2005) is scored for a large symphony orchestra. It is a tribute to the football (soccer) player Duncan Ferguson. On the night of the work’s premiere with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo in April 2005, Ferguson returned to headlines by scoring a late winner for Everton against Manchester United.

Barlinnie Nine lasts about 12 minutes. Like Ferguson the man, music is at times powerful, only to quickly give way to calmer passages. Raihala has jokingly called the work ”the apotheosis of under-achievement”, as the numerous stop-starts describe Ferguson’s fragmentary career in football.

Rautasade (”Iron Rain”, 2008) is a work for a large symphony orchestra, premiered in October 2008 by Dima Slobodeniouk and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, who even commissioned the work. Its 16 minutes comprise strong rhythms and melodic lines that in the end unwind in a surprise vocalise, sung by the orchestra musicians.

Ardbeg (2003) is a work for symphony orchestra. It is a symphonic poem, inspired by the Inner Hebrides island Islay, its people and the incomparable single malt tradition, taking its title from one particular malt, Ardbeg.

Ardbeg was awarded as a recommended work in the 1st International Uuno Klami composition competition in 2004, and premiered by Dmitri Slobodeniouk and the Kymi Sinfonietta in April 2005. The work’s duration is about 17 minutes.

Cello concerto (2006) was written for Martti Rousi, who even premiered the work in January 2007 with Eva Ollikainen and the Nordiska Kammarorkestern in Sundsvall, Sweden. The Finnish premiere took place in February 2011 with the Joensuu City Orchestra.

Cello concerto comprises six movements of which the fifth is a solo cadenza. The music is highly picturesque, with subtitles like Goldmund in the World of Wanton, House of Drowse and Piper at the Gates of Delirium. The concerto lasts about 24 minutes.

Oboe Concerto (2010) was a commission by Anni Haapaniemi. It is scored for the oboe and a string orchestra, and consists of five movements that are performed without pause; altogether these movements last ca. 22 minutes.  This highly virtuosic concerto will be premiered in October 2011 by the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.

LARGE ENSEMBLE

Rock Painting (”Värikallio”, 2003) is scored for 11 players consisting of a wind quintet, a piano and a string quintet. In this work, lasting about a quarter of an hour, Raihala lets a few of his own musical origins shine through, as there are three passages where musicians are asked to improvise in rock and jazz style. The first third of the piece is pacy run forward in a pulsating rhythm, which gives way to a rock music.

The ”Rock Painting” is an ancient piece of rock art from Raihala’s original home, Suomussalmi in north-east Finland, painted around 4500 years ago.

The premier performance was heard in January 2004, given by Eva Ollikainen and the Uusinta Chamber Ensemble.

Suprematisse (2009) was premiered in October 2009, yet again by Eva Ollikainen and the Uusinta Chamber Ensemble. The line-up comprises a wind trio, a trumpet, a trombone, a percussionist, a piano and a string quintet.

As the title suggests, Raihala seeks inspirations from the paintings of the suprematists like Malevich and Rochenko, and amalgamate it with the shadeless tones of Matisse. No wonder then that one critic compared Suprematisse with the 1920’s avant-gardist Nikolai Roslavets.

CHAMBER WORKS

Rampant (1997) for two solo violins is probably Raihala’s most often performed work. It is a shortish eruption of quick passages and even some humorous details, including some aleatoric playing in its middle section. Rampant was written for Jaakko and Pekka Kuusisto, who duly premiered the work in August 1998.

Damballa (2000) was written for the flutist, the oboist, the clarinettist and the violinist of the Uusinta Chamber Ensemble. The first performance took place in July 2000 in the Time of Music festival in Viitasaari. This work is often mentioned as a high point of Raihala’s early career, and it has been performed in several countries, including Finland, UK, Germany, Poland and the Republic of Ireland. Damballa lasts about eight minutes and contains some theatrical elements as the oboist joins the other players only after a few minutes playing.

String Quartet #2 (”Jobimao”) (2000) is a tribute to the late Brazilian bossa nova king Antonio Carlos Jobim. The quartet lasts just under ten minutes, and consists of two movements that are played without interruption. The latter part is a fully tonal original bossa nova written by Raihala in Jobim’s style. In the earlier part this bossa nova is shredded into a modern-sounding movement that gradually gives way to a softly lulling bossa nova melody.

The first performance was played in October 2000 by the Uusinta String Quartet.

Stoa Trilogy (2002) is a sonata for violin and piano. It comprises three movements with the subtitles Ataraxy, Apathy and Autarchy, thus using the ideas of the ancient Stoics. The first two are relatively slow, whereas the final movement progresses with frenetic pace. Stoa Trilogy was written for the violinist Maria Puusaari, who premiered the work in 2002 with the pianist Antti Kaihola.

De-cadenza (2004) for accordion and a string quartet was commissioned by the accordion wizard Veli Kujala. The first performance of the work was heard in December 2005 in Helsinki.

As the title suggests, De-cadenza consists of two movements, where the first is slow and decadent, whereas the latter (”Cadenza”) turns into a bacchanal, where the accordion player is asked to improvise his solo. The work lasts about ten minutes.

Freefoot (2006) is written for a Pierrot Lunaire type quintet line-up. Its premier performance was in March 2006 at the Musica nova festival in Helsinki, given by the Uusinta Lunaire.

Freefoot is a relatively fine example of Raihala’s style of the noughties, with quick turns and sharp rhythms and the inevitable quotation from progressive rock, at this time from Gentle Giant’s Just the Same from the band’s 1975 album Free Hand.

Mäntä (”Piston”, 2009) for two pianos was written for Niklas Pokki and Sonja Fräki, who even premiered the work at the Mänttä Music Festival in July 2009. Again Raihala turns music into theater, as one of the pianists obviously falls into a Stendhal syndrome and stops playing, which makes the other pianist get mad and abandon the stage, only to return soon, and the two continue together until the end. In the accelerating final phase there is a short quotation of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. The work lasts about 10 minutes.

A Love Surplus was written in Benin, West Africa, where Raihala spent two last months of the year 2011. It is a trio for flute, cello and piano, and consists of three cadenzas (for each instrument) that alternate with passages written for all three. This work lasts ca. 12 minutes.

SOLO WORKS

Five characters (1993) for solo flute is one of Raihala’s earliest works still surfacing in the concert repertoires. This piece is in five parts where each part has its own character: the first is full of multiphonics, the second is very quick, the third is somewhat anguishing, the fourth rhythmically restless and the last one - played with alto flute - is slow and resigned.

Five characters lasts about eight minutes. The first performance was given by Hanna Juutilainen in May 1995.

King of Lycksele (2003) was written for the cellist Markus Hohti, who also premiered the work in April 2004. It is a short and quick piece, lasting under four minutes, and is most aptly described as an étude.

Emperor of Vuokki (2004) is a sister work of King of Lycksele, this time for solo violin. It was written for Maria Puusaari, who gave it its first performance in December 2004. Emperor of Vuokki also lasts just under four minutes, and is a quickly turning affair with sharp rhythms and fleeting melodies.

Aflao Highway (2010) is a three-movement, virtuosic work for solo piano, lasting about 12 minutes. It was written during 2009-10, and comprises three movements, which are subtitled More Than Able, Observers Are Worried and Do Good In Case Of Tomorrow. These were picked up from Ghanaian rear screen stickers during a trip from Accra to Aflao. However, Raihala emphasizes, that these titles don’t describe the music, which is not programmatic.

La trace de Karo (2010) is another fruit of the fertile period at Villa Karo, Benin. This solo violin piece was inspired by Beninese birds that kept the composer awake during every morning’s earliest hours, and was written for Maria Puusaari, who also premiered it on the New Year’s Day 2011, in front of a large local audience in Grand Popo, Benin. This one-movement work lasts around seven and half minutes.

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