Duo Lehtinen & Lipasti

In November 2021 the composer and arranger Luukas Hiltunen was commissioned by Duo Lehtinen & Lipasti to prepare an arrangement for violin and piano of Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia Hymn. Sibelius himself made a piano transcription of the Finlandia in its entirety, published by Breitkopf & Härtel. In his old age he also made vocal and choral versions of the hymn section with texts by Wäinö Sola and V.A. Koskenniemi. Luukas Hiltunen’s arrangement of the hymn for violin and piano, the first for this combination of instruments, is based on mainly the composer’s own piano version, with reference to the version for symphony orchestra in order to achieve more sonorous and expressive results.

Duo Lehtinen & Lipasti is a collaboration between Pauliina Lehtinen and Sakari Lipasti. Pauliina Lehtinen is a violinist, chamber musician and orchestral player who has been a member of the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Finnish National Opera Orchestra and Turku Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied in Italy and Sweden and has been a pupil of Mi-Kyung Lee, Pavel Vernikov and Hagai Shaham. Pianist Sakari Lipasti studied at the Sibelius Academy where his teachers included Juhani Lagerspetz. He gives numerous concerts as a recitalist, chamber musician and Lieder accompanist, has enjoyed success in numerous competitions and teaches the piano at the Sastamala College of Music.

The first performance of this new arrangement will take place on Saturday 20 August 2022 at 3 pm, at a concert in the Kangasalan Lepokoti in Kangasala near Tampere, the opening event of a concert tour in Pirkanmaa.

More information about Luukas Hiltunen:
UE (Universal Edition AG Wien) Composer Profile: https://www.universaledition.com/luukas-hiltunen-7879
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luukashiltunenmusician/
Instagram: @luukas_hiltunen_composer
Linkedln: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luukas-hiltunen-composer/
Twitter: @hiltunen_luukas

Photo of Duo Lehtinen & Lipasti © Pette Rissanen, supplied by Luukas Hiltunen