Luukas Hiltunen
*9 December 1996
Works by Luukas Hiltunen
Biography
After having studied two years on a professional undergraduate degree, a versatile Finn musician Luukas Hiltunen graduated from the Lahti Conservatory on May the 30th 2018. He graduated from Tampere University of Applied Sciences on June the 14th 2023 with a Bachelor of Music Pedagogy degree. From 13th September 2023 onwards he has been working full-time as a self-employed entrepreneur, composer and arranger.
Milestones:
- Young Composer of the Year 2024 by Mikkeli Music Festival (announced on 29th July 2023), resulting a commission for mixed choir and symphony orchestra for the 33rd opening concert of the 2024 festival on 3rd August 2024, performed by Helsinki Philharmonic Choir and Saimaa Sinfonietta under the baton of Aliisa Naige Barrière – Scintillation for mixed choir and symphony orchestra (2024) to the poem Hope is a Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) to precede Ludwig van Beethoven's (1770–1827) Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (1824).
- A commission by Gewandhausorchester Leipzig – a two-movement reconstruction of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's (1809–1847) unfinished Symphony No. 6 in C major (1842–1846; 2023), drawing on the manuscripts housed in the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. The world premiere performance took place on October the 24th 2024 in Vaasa, at a concert of the Vaasa City Orchestra conducted by James Sherlock. Critic Jari Kallio's review can be read here.
- World premieres of the reduced versions of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's (1840–1893) Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Waltz of the Snowflakes from The Nutcracker by Chamber Orchestra of Lapland on 13th October 2022 at Korundi House of Culture, Rovaniemi, Finland, in cooperation with ballet studets from the Lapland Music and Dance Institute. A subsequent performances of Waltz of the Snowflakes occurred on 14th December 2023 in Lappeenranta and on 15th December 2023 in Mikkeli at the Christmas concerts by Saimaa Sinfonietta under the baton of Erkki Lasonpalo.
- World premiere of the reduced setting of Gioachino Rossini's (1792–1868) The Barber of Seville Overture, commissioned by Chamber Orchestra of Lapland, on 11th September 2023 by Chamber Orchestra of Lapland in the Levi Summit, Kittilä, Finland. The further performance took place on 15th September 2023 in Tromsø Cathedral, Tromsø, Norway.
- In March 2024 a commission by Kuopio Symphony Orchestra – Chamber Symphony in F major based on Antonín Dvorák's (1841–1904) Quartett F-Dur.
- In November 2024 a commission by Chamber Orchestra of Lapland – reduction for chamber orchestra featuring piano of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture (1880 / 2024), the first of its kind. The reduction was prepared just in mere three weeks and the world premiere performance took place on January the 29th, 2025, in Korundi Cultural Centre, Rovaniemi, performed by Chamber Orchestra of Lapland.
- World premiere of Symphony No. 1 for full orchestra (2020) on 18th April 2022 in the Järvenpää Hall, performed by Sinfonia Vivo under the baton of its Artistic Director Erkki Lasonpalo.
- World premiere of the meditative composition Do not let your hearts be troubled for soprano and chamber orchestra (2019) on 20th March 2019 at the Church of the Cross (Ristinkirkko), Lahti, Finland, performed by soprano Janina Mäyry and Ensemble de Ton Celeste under the baton of the composer.
- World premiere of his arrangement for violin solo, harp and string orchestra of Jules Massenet's (1842–1912) Méditation (2019) on 12th February 2020 at the Felix Krohn Hall, Lahti, Finland, performed by violinist Juliana Pöyry and New Lahti Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Janne Saarinen.
- World premiere of 15-minute fantasie de concert Conversion (2019) for piano, performed on 28th November 2022 in the Small Auditorium of Tampere Hall by pianist Ville Hautakangas.
- World premiere of String Quartet No. 1 (2022), subtitled as A tale of two lovers, by String Quartet ILME on 25th November 2022 at the Haihara Art Centre in Tampere.
- Publication in Spring 2019 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhangen of the arrangement for String Quartet of Jean Sibelius's (1865–1957) Scene d'Amour, Op. 71 (2019), originally composed for violin and piano [WH33255].
- On September 8th, 2018, Sinfonia Lahti (Lahti Symphony Orchestra) presented the world premiere performance under the direction of Dima Slobodeniouk of the transcription for symphony orchestra of Jean Sibelius's Intrada, Op. 111a (1925; 2018), originally for organ, from Two Pieces, Op. 111.
- Publication in June 2023 by Edition Wilhelm Hansen Copenhagen of the arrangement for chamber ensemble of Sibelius's The Tempest Suite, Op. 109 [WH33640], commissioned by Ruovesi Chamber Music Festival.
Since Autumn of 2017 he has been the member at the Association of Finnish Sheet Music Engravers (Suomen nuottigraafikot ry.) and from August of 2020 at the Association of Finnish Musicians' Union (Suomen Muusikkojen Liitto).
About the music
An easy to approach, yet variable and constantly captivating musical language, dominated by tonality. Style has been influenced and inspired by found to be a good techniques by the old masters, inspiration has also been taken by the homeland's folk music.
Mr. Hiltunen describes his philosophy behind his compositions and arrangements as follows:
"I feel that the greatest necessity behind my work is to transmit beauty and luminosity to listeners and performers – something that is beyond our daily, physical evanescent reality. So therefore I cannot take all the credit of my work for myself, because I feel I am not working on it alone, it is not my music in the ultimate sense of the word. Our world needs and craves beauty, peace, wholeness, consolation – something that transcends our comprehension and is ever present if we allow it to be present and not deny its existence. So much segregation, confrontation, violence, suffering, ambivalence, darkness, illusions of righteousness. Only by internalizing the unity of humanity and ultimately that of the cosmos, cooperation, empathy and in the end the meaning of unconditional love, can there be true and genuine development and transformation towards wisdom, enlightenment, and eternal light".
Marjatta – Trio for violin, viola and piano based on the 50th poem of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic
Marjatta is a young virgin of Kalevala. She becomes pregnant from eating a lingonberry. When her labor begins she is expelled from her parents' home and leaves to find a place where she can sauna and give birth. She is turned away from numerous places but finally finds a place in the forest and gives birth to a son. The boy chastises Väinämöinen, a shamanistic hero and the central character of The Kalevala, and is later crowned King of Karelia. This angers Väinämöinen, who leaves Kalevala after bequeathing his songs and kantele to the people as his legacy.
The large-scale one-movement work, lasting ca. 20 minutes, depicts musically the silent and sentimental character of Marjatta at first [lyrical section]. This is following a more agitated passage narrating Marjatta's anguish when seeking a place to give a birth [agitated section]. Finally the work is returning to the peaceful atmosphere at the beginning, being, however, majestic in its emotions, depicting King of Karelia and the central element of the Finnish folk music, kantele [solemn section].
The composition of the work has been supported by the Finnish Music Promotion Foundation (Musiikin edistämissäätiö), for which the author, Mr. Hiltunen, expresses his most sincere acknowledgements. The world premiere is scheduled for August the 2nd 2025 at Balder Hall, Helsinki, performed by violinist Emi Otogao, violist Gregor Hrabar and pianist Marie-Therese Zahnlecker with kantelist Iida-Maria Kuronen.
