columns

In this column series, composers working in Finland ask each other questions on just about anything: their work, technique, philosophy or career. In this instalment, Minna Leinonen responds to a question from Mikko Heiniö. Next time, she will present a question to a composer of her choice.

When choral conductor Ida Olsonen does vocal painting with the Musta lammas choir (whose name translates as ‘black sheep’), no one knows what the performance will be like. In this column, Olsonen describes how an improvised choral performance unfolds – and how it is even possible to conduct choral improvisation in the first place.

Your friends on social media are not your friends; they are just people who are notified of updates to your account. Similarly, artificial intelligence is not intelligence; the term is a label for computational models of inductive reasoning.

"There is a lot of children’s music being made in Finland, with diverse approaches, but it is not easy to come by at random these days," writes Maiju Kopra, President of the Children’s Music Association, in her column.

"The festival has thoroughly taught me to question and to puzzle over what music actually is, whether considered as actions, definitions or delimitations. Even the simplest contemplation of the relationship between music, tones and other sounds, let alone their relationship to silence and other forms of expression and art, blew my untutored mind, and more than once I found myself reeling as I exited an overwhelming concert into the dusky Viitasaari summer night", writes Jari Hoffrén.

"Boundaries between nationalities are becoming more relaxed, and people increasingly feel themselves belonging to transnational groups. And as people move around, so does their music. Changes in society also affect music," writes Anna Dantchev in her column.

"For me, the most important function of music is to convey and catalyse emotions. This is why rich textures and powerful melodies play such a central role in my music," writes Mari Sainio. This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

"When I compose music and write lyrics, I start from the concept of wanting to communicate true facts and real things to my listeners, and find issues that are relevant and common for all of us as humans. I love to connect with my audiences, and I want to speak out about things that matter to me. When it comes to lyrics, I love to be poetic. When it comes to music, I love grooves, patterns, odd and polyrhythms," writes Elena Mîndru. This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

“Composing is for me largely a matter of random meandering, and writing down the notes is only the tip of the iceberg in my process. My composing does not adapt to office hours, does not progress in a linear fashion and is not easily predictable; instead, it is variable and fragmented, and largely a complete mystery to me,” writes composer Sauli Zinovjev. This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

"The world is a mosaic of beliefs, of languages, of varied communities, and the question is not whether it is possible for them to coexist but how their coexistence could be facilitated, because we have no choice”, writes Kaija Saariaho in her column, originally published in FMQ in 2019.