Four Last Songs

The chamber music concert, Four Last Songs, will feature music by three different composers.

The performance begins with Thomas Adès, one of the most important composers of our time. The program includes his clarinet quintet Alchymia (2001), inspired by the concept of alchemy, where transformation – either material or spiritual – is central. Adès’s clarinet quintet consists of four movements, each containing elements from the Elizabethan era that, in the hands of the composer, are refined into something entirely new. Adès has described his aim as making his music as irresistible as possible, where shades and emotions sweep the listener along.

Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen, whose work is gaining international acclaim, presents her modern lament for violin, Until the Stone Cracks (2008). The piece is based on Sirkka Turkka’s poem Pain Grows Nothing, where the person mourns her deceased mother. The concert will feature both a poem by Turkka and a piece by Tarkiainen, performed by violinist Siljamari Heikinheimo.

The concert concludes with Richard Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs, 1948). Strauss is undoubtedly one of the greatest opera composers of the 20th century, and songs were a constant in his life – he composed them from age six until his deathbed. Originally scored for soprano and orchestra, Vier letzte Lieder will be heard in this concert in an arrangement by Max Wolff and Ernst Roth for soprano and piano. Vier letzte Lieder, or Four Last Songs, is the composer’s tender farewell, evoking themes of letting go and the inevitable narrowing of life’s path as death draws near.

PROGRAM

Thoma Adès: Alchymia
Siljamari Heikinheimo, violin
Iida Zelenski, violin
Hanna Hohti, viola
Markus Hohti, cello
Hanna Hujanen, basset clarinet

Outi Tarkiainen: Until the Stone Splits
Siljamari Heikinheimo, violin and recitation

Richard Strauss: Vier letze Lieder
Frühling
September
Beim Schlafengehen
Im Abendrot
Mari Palo, soprano
Tuomas Turriago, piano

Performers:
Siljamari Heikinheimo, violin and recitation
Iida Zelenski, violin
Hanna Hohti, viola
Markus Hohti, cello
Hanna Hujanen, basset clarinet
Tuomas Turriago, piano
Mari Palo, soprano

Duration approx. 1 h (no intermission)

The concert is part of the 2025 Oulu Music Festival.

Tickets

26 € Regular / 18 € Pensioner / 10 € Discount groups

Available through Ticketmaster Finland nationwide. Prices include handling fees. Tickets without handling fees are available from the Valve ticket office. A service fee of €3 per order will be charged for purchases from the Ticketmaster ticket shop, or €1.50 per order when purchasing from the Ticketmaster online store.

The ticket price includes the cloakroom fee.

A limited number of Kaikukortti-tickets are available.

Ticket Sales Locations

Ticketmaster Finland nationwide.
Oulu Sinfonia ticket shop, Leevi Madetojan katu 1-3.
Cultural Centre Valve ticket office, Hallituskatu 7.
At the door one hour before the concert.

Accessibility

The accessible entrance is located on the Hallituskatu side of the City Hall. There is a button at the entrance that can be used to open the door. If the door does not open, you can press the info buzzer at the entrance to have it opened for you. The accessible entrance leads to the ground floor (0) of the City Hall. The elevator to other floors of the building is located down a long hallway to the right of the entrance. There is a tactile marking on the floor to guide visually impaired individuals toward the elevator. The elevator doors are 90 cm wide. For more information, please visit the City of Oulu’s website at https://www.ouka.fi/kaupungintalon-esteettomyys.

The organizer reserves the right to make changes.