tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-194269872024-02-19T05:19:37.540+03:00The Late Reviewart, literature, music, discussion, comment, rantDavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-78200835996495597692009-10-04T11:18:00.003+03:002009-10-04T11:48:15.403+03:00Well done, Ireland!Buíochas le Dia! Common sense has finally prevailed in the Republic of Ireland as <a href="http://www.independent.ie/national-news/lisbon-treaty/lenihan-hails-yes-vote-as-a-rejection-of-junk-politics-1903830.html">the populace voted on Friday to ratify the Lisbon Treaty</a>. I'm interested by Brian Lenihan's comments that what he calls "junk politics" (a wonderful, apt term) was coming from the <span style="font-style:italic;">far left</span> rather from the far right.<br /><br />It's intriguing how opposition to "Europe" is not necessarily a party-political matter but can manifest itself in all political corners. For instance, here in Finland, again, confusingly and somewhat nonsensically, it is the parties of the left that most vocally object to the Treaty, whereas in the UK, euroscepticism is almost exclusively part of the far-right agenda (espoused by the Tories, the odious UKIP and the even more odious BNP), while it is the Labour party that has tirelessly tried to ratify the Treaty and integrate us with the rest of Europe – which is, after all, our rightful place.<br /><br />Out of a glorious sense of schadenfreude, I would have loved to have seen the looks on the faces of Cameron and his disciples as exit polls began appearing in Ireland. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/04/conservatives-eu-ireland-lisbon-yes">This article in the Guardian</a> gives us a fairly good indication of what that look might have been. Poor Dave... Left with the prospect of becoming PM <span style="font-weight:bold;">but not actually being able to do anything about the Treaty</span>. Not only that, he's now faced with the dilemma of whether to hold a referendum on the Treaty <span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">after</span></span> is has already become law. What a ridiculous idea, not to mention an utterly pointless endeavour.<br /><br />It goes without saying that certain loony elements [certain...?] on the far-right of the Tory party are calling for a referendum even if the Treaty has passed. I suppose they have to do this so as not to lose face. They erroneously claim that a No vote in such a referendum would "rule the Lisbon treaty null and void in the UK and withdraw us from its provisions". This demonstrates how little they understand of the ratification process and, not surprisingly, the contempt in which they hold European law. But what if Cameron doesn't hold the long-promised referendum, fruitless though such a thing will now inevitably be? Won't he be accused of going back on his promise, of denying the British people their say? I dare say it won't go unnoticed that these are the same accusations he has been throwing at Gordon Brown since the day he took office. A tricky situation indeed... Poor Dave. Let's just hope it does put a damper on the conference, eh? At least the presence of all his new Eastern European bedfellows should cheer him up. They sound like jolly nice fellows to me.<blockquote><br />Cameron is also facing controversy over the presence at the party conference of controversial MEPs Michal Kaminski, the Polish leader of the new Conservative group in the European parliament, and another member of the group, Roberts Zile from Latvia, who are both accused of having far-right links.<br /><br />Last night it emerged that another of Cameron's European allies had been accused of holding extreme views after backing anti-gay legislation in Lithuania. Valdemar Tomasevski, an MEP and a member of the Tories' European coalition, voted for a Lithuanian law on 16 June that bans discussion of homosexuality, not only in schools but in any forum open to young people.</blockquote>DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-29246899332826974932009-07-25T15:29:00.008+03:002009-07-25T15:59:15.087+03:00The Last 12 Months: An Abridged VersionHello… It’s exactly a year since the last time I posted on The Late Review, giving new heights to the word ‘late’. The reasons for this hiatus are long and various, but suffice it to say that plenty has happened in the intervening 365 days. A few of the highlights:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.schildts.fi/user_data/pix/products/large/9789515018014.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 223px;" src="http://www.schildts.fi/user_data/pix/products/large/9789515018014.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> • On the work front, last summer I translated a very long book about the history of Raseborg (which was the primary reason I stopped blogging for a while). This 270-page epic managed to eat up most of my time until the middle of September.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8L54QBHBUwC2aeHyD8jeRJglFQsMQOMU1Jav9w1e3dKTXEfrCYXq7XFORRLrOTCmeVdeuYzgf3Dqz3K3hB5xKjEQVWsYl2tOyKTKeiUpl6Iu6EiFdOLsF0rPTG3cY_0KiOI0i/s1600-h/JoensuuCover.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8L54QBHBUwC2aeHyD8jeRJglFQsMQOMU1Jav9w1e3dKTXEfrCYXq7XFORRLrOTCmeVdeuYzgf3Dqz3K3hB5xKjEQVWsYl2tOyKTKeiUpl6Iu6EiFdOLsF0rPTG3cY_0KiOI0i/s200/JoensuuCover.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5362376021634270114" /></a> • My translation of Matti Yrjänä Joensuu’s <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Steal-Her-Love-Matti-Joensuu/dp/1905147740/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248525492&sr=1-3">To Steal Her Love</a> was finally published by Arcadia Books. A number of good reviews appeared, including <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/boyd-tonkin-beyond-mankell-our-fiends-in-the-north-1051788.html">this one in the Independent</a>.<br /><br />• In November I started working for the quarterly magazine <a href="http://www.welcometofinland.fi/">Welcome to Finland</a>, translating articles and correcting the (often extremely bad and funny) English of others. This job seemed to take over my life every time an issue came around (160pp each), so you can imagine I wasn’t exactly devastated when the editor informed me that they were letting me go because they’d found someone who would translate it cheaper! Apparently that’s the way people conduct their business in the cutthroat world of Finnish journalism…<br /><br />• The up-shot of all this – and of being turned down for an artist’s grant by the Finnish Cultural Foundation – means still having to eke out an existence until something more interesting comes along… Oh well. <br /><br />By virtue of my own sheer laziness, the renovations to my bedroom have taken over five months. The house has been in chaos and I’m still sleeping in the living room. All that remains is to give one wall a final coat of paint and to affix the skirting boards, then we’re done. Photographs will follow shortly.<br /> <br />On the artistic side of things, singing has rather taken over my life. In August I joined the <a href="http://www.incantoensemble.fi/">Incanto Vocal Ensemble</a>, conducted by my good friend Jukka Jokitalo – meaning more rehearsals and less time for blogging! I have continued taking lessons with <a href="http://www.liminganmusiikkiviikot.fi/ml/cv.php?lang=fi&cv=k_telaranta">the wonderful Kirsi Telaranta</a> and since Christmas have been concentrating, as far as my solo voice is concerned, on developing my countertenor. <br /><br />In February, <a href="http://www.scrippscollege.edu/academics/faculty/charles-kamm.php">American tenor Charles Kamm</a> – who was visiting Finland for six months and, among other things, sang with and conducted Incanto – and I sang Purcell’s marvellous countertenor duet ‘Sound the Trumpet’ (performed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5HcakhyPB4">here</a> by countertenor Alfred Deller and his son Mark). Spurred on by this, we decided to have a go at Britten’s ‘Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac’. This culminated in a concert far more ambitious than either of us had imagined. In association with the <a href="http://mf.kso.fi/">Metsoforte Choir</a>, we and <a href="http://timolatonen.com/">the enormously talented pianist Timo Latonen</a> put on, in May, a concert with the following programme:<br /><br />• Britten: ‘I know a bank’ (from A Midsummer Night’s Dream)<br />• Tippett: Songs for Ariel<br />• Barber: Hermit Songs<br />• Britten: Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac<br /><br />In July my composition <span style="font-style:italic;">Resonance</span> for violin, strings and horns (composed last autumn, <span style="font-style:italic;">yet another</span> reason for not blogging…) was performed at the <a href="http://www.brinkhallsoi.fi/">Brinkhall soi festival</a> by my friends from the Refugium Musicum Chamber Orchestra, and I performed an aria from Handel’s Messiah at a Sunday service in Turku Cathedral – a wonderful experience. Imagine my delight when, later that day, a woman stopped me in Stockmann’s in Turku to ask me whether it was me that had sung at the cathedral that morning! Rest assured, there will be plenty of posts about singing in the coming months.<br /><br />And, not to disappoint, there will be lots of posts about politics, Finnish, British, American and otherwise. There’s certainly plenty to comment upon, what with the deplorable results of the European elections in June; the rise of the fascist Perussuomalaiset and the charges for incitement against their ‘intellectual’ henchman Jussi Halla-aho – now relieved of his duties; the Kokoomus turning a blind eye to the racist comments of their own candidates in the lead-up to the elections; the exit of the British Conservative Party from the EPP to join ranks with homophobes, racists and climate-change deniers across Europe and the looming return to neo-Thatcherist misery in Britain; the attempts to impose creationism, via the Trojan horse that is ‘intelligent design’, on pupils in certain US states; the assault of the far right on all that is good about the Obama administration; and so on (and so on).<br /><br />So, apologies for the inordinate wait. I hereby promise to keep any faithful readers I may still have regularly up-to-date with any thoughts that pop into my head and seem worth sharing.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-66573943121909879262008-07-25T03:20:00.003+03:002008-07-25T11:34:20.872+03:00People of improbable hope<iframe height="339" width="425" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22425001/vp/25835684#25835684" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><br />Nothing I can say could possibly make this any more inspirational. All rise.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-4769155365769580812008-07-14T17:33:00.014+03:002008-07-16T11:43:55.927+03:00Word Splash!Thanks to Sean at <a href="http://aloneandunobserved.com">Alone and Unobserved</a> for the link to <a href="http://wordle.net/">Wordle</a>, a programme that creates 'word clouds' from any website. I put in the link to The Late Review and this is what it came up with:<br /><a href="http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/68100/Pl%C3%A4j%C3%A4ys" title="Wordle: Pläjäys"><img src="http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o36/pizzocalabro/latereview.png" style="padding:4px; order:1px solid #ddd"></a><br />The programme highlights words according to frequency. Interesting that the words 'Kokoomus' and 'homophobia' are right next to one another – and I didn't even put them there! And as for Kanerva, well, I'm easily provoked.<br /><br />PS: Sean I'm not sure how to make the image appear larger; can you help? Thanks!DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-12317942029298877572008-07-02T12:09:00.003+03:002008-07-02T12:25:59.903+03:00Translated Fiction at BookTrust's New SiteOver at translation blog <a href="http://brave-new-words.blogspot.com/2008/06/booktrusts-translated-fiction-website.html#links">Brave New Words</a> I found a link to <a href="http://www.translatedfiction.org.uk/Home">BookTrust's new website</a> dedicated to translated fiction and thought I'd link to it here too. The site is a valuable addition to a small field, and certainly worth a look for anyone interested in literature in translation.<br /><br />For years, BookTrust has been an outstanding exponent of translated fiction, regularly reviewing new titles and giving translated fiction the kind of publicity it is hard even for publishers to provide. Now it seems they have decided to concentrate their efforts on one website, so as to have everything under one roof, as it were. <br /><br />The site contains articles by publishers, writers and translators alike, reviews of new works in translation and introductions to forthcoming titles. I was pleased to note that, though it – disappointingly – didn't make the shortlist Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2008, my translation of Maria Peura's <span style="font-style:italic;">At the Edge of Light</span> did however make it to BookTrust's Recommended Titles section. <a href="http://www.translatedfiction.org.uk/show/review/Recommended%20titles/At-the-Edge-of-Light-review">The review</a> isn't bad, either.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-54576227208736561412008-06-30T23:09:00.003+03:002008-06-30T23:17:55.775+03:00Indian summer of love?Further to my post the other day about the plight of LGBT organisations in Latvia, there was <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/30/india.gayrights">an article in today's Guardian</a> about the first Pride parade in Delhi. Indian marchers were allowed to hold a parade, and judging by the short video clip at the link above there seemed to be quite a lot of participants. This, despite the fact that an 1861 law criminalises what it refers to as "carnal intercourse against the order of nature between any man, woman or animal". Whatever <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> means...<br /><br />At the end of the article is a brief rundown of other Pride marches which took place across the world last week. Latvia isn't mentioned; I wonder how they got on.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-70718466226170066452008-06-27T18:43:00.004+03:002008-06-27T19:30:43.844+03:00Cowardice vs Bravery<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kAKYpUo18wU&hl=en"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kAKYpUo18wU&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />I was shocked <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/25/advertising.gayrights">to read earlier in the week</a> about the Heinz mayonnaise advert which the company has taken off screens after around 200 complaints about obscenity. The advert, which features two men kissing, was called 'obscene' and 'inappropriate'. Many also complained saying that the advert was detrimental to children and would put parents in the awkward position of having to explain to their children that same-sex couples exist. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?heinz">An online petition</a> has been set up asking Heinz to reinstate the advert and not to give in to bigotry. So far over 9000 people have signed the petition – far more than the two hundred or so who complained about the original advert. We're no longer living in the 19th century. I can't see how people find this brief kiss offensive. It's not as if they started rimming each other on the kitchen table (cf. <span style="font-style:italic;">Queer as Folk</span> episode 1, about twenty minutes in). <br /><br />The issue of parenthood amongst same-sex couples came up again last night in two films shown as part of the Helsinki Pride 2008 (going on this week). The first was a documentary <span style="font-style:italic;">Tuplaisät</span> ('Double Dads') focussed on a gay couple in Helsinki who have two foster children and who are now trying to have one biological child each. How refreshing to see a documentary about 'normal' people going about their lives. The film gave a fascinating look at what life with two dads must be like. I found the following anecdote particularly endearing: the two older children were arguing and calling each other gay, when one of the fathers walks in and says, 'That's enough! If anyone's gay round here, it's me.'<br /><br />The next film, another documentary called <span style="font-style:italic;">The Marching Season</span>, focussed on the differences between Pride marches in London and Riga in 2007. Gay rights hasn't been a political issue in the UK for years; young gay men in particular don't seem very interested in the politics of the movement, nor of the struggles that went on through the 70s and 80s. It was heart-warming to see the brave young members of <a href="http://www2.mozaika.lv/?lang=2&mid2=1">Mozaīka</a>, the Latvian LGBT rights organisation, determinedly planning their Pride march despite widespread hostility – a counter parade entitled NoPride was to be held at an adjacent park; the event attracted thousands of people who flocked to sign petitions against the Pride march. At the 2006 march, Mozaīka members were pelted with stones and excrement. How brave they are to carry on their work, regardless of the fact that their lives are constantly at risk. <br /><br />We've come a long way in the last forty years. Equality has increased in many areas of life and gay people don't need to feel threatened in the street. This is largely because, in most western countries, it has become wholly unacceptable to hold such flagrantly homophobic opinions. Sadly, this is not the case in Latvia, where it seems that the neo-Nazi activities of NoPride and other homophobic factions are not universally frowned upon. Mozaīka has the right to hold a march, but the police cannot guarantee participants' personal safety. <br /><br />In Britain, such attitudes would be, in the words the Heinz complainants, 'offensive and inappropriate'. This is why, although the Heinz debacle is a million miles from the problems in Latvia, the advertisement must be reinstated. Homophobic attitudes are to be condemned unequivocally. After all that people have fought for, it is absurd that something as trivial as two men sharing a kiss can cause such great offence. Reinstating the advert will be a powerful signal that such bigotry will not be tolerated. As things are now, the removal of the advert has caused far more offence than the kiss itself. Heinz: do the right thing.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-77341338594438768592008-05-29T11:06:00.004+03:002008-05-29T11:33:32.971+03:00The Finnish Eton BoysLet me return, for a moment, to one of my favourite subjects: rife corruption in the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus). Clearly, the dismissal of Ilkka Kanerva, the lecherous former foreign minister, is only the beginning of a long process of ridding the country these people... <br /><br />Kokoomus MPs clearly hold the general public in contempt if they really think we're so gullible that nobody will notice that there's a connection between who donated money to their (widely derided) "retro" election campaign, and the people who are now up for top jobs and promotions. This is the Finnish equivalent of the "cash for peerages" scandal in the UK and let's hope it exposes them for what they are: a bunch of self-sufficient, back-slapping Eton boys (if such a thing could exist in Finland). Speaking of which, don't even get me started on Boris Johnson. His election defies belief. <br /><br />For those with Finnish, here's an eye-opening article from Uutislehti 100 on 21.5.2008:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tää on ihan kakkosesta</span> (Ville Soininen, Uutislehti 100, 21.5.2008)<br /><br />Iltalehti kertoi eilen, että poliitikot hakevat vaalirahoituskohun keksipisteessä olevalle Tokmanni Oy:n konserninjohtajalle Kyösti Kakkoselle vuorineuvoksen arvonimeä. Asialla on muum muassa kokoomuksen Sauli Niinistö, Jyri Häkämies, Marja Tiura ja Ilkka Kanerva ja keskustan Paula Lehtomäki sekä Hannes Manninen, jotka kaikki sivat tukea Kakkosen ja Toivo Sukarin avokätisesti rahoittamalta vaalirahayhdistykseltä.<br /><br />Kakkonen luonnehti vaalirahoituksen ja vuorineuvoksen tittelin yhdistämistä eilen Iltalehe nettisivuilla "kananaivojournalismiksi ja julkeaksi vihjailuksi", mutta minusta on hienoa, että talvisodan henki elää edelleen suomalaisissa poliitikoissa. Ei kaveria silloinkaan jätetty. Tosin nykymuodossa talvisodan meininki menisi seuraavasti: "Paljonkos maksat, että kannan sut takaisin omille linjoille, kun näyttää tuo vasen koipesi irronneen."<br /><br />[...] Suomi on toistuvasti arvioitu maailman vähiten korruptoituneeksi maaksi, eikä tavisten välillä rahalahjuksia annetakaan. Kuitenkin vuosi vuodelta suurempi osa hyvinkin erilaisissa ammateissa työskentelevistä tuttavistani on saanut töitä suhteilla. Olennaisinta ei enää pitkään ole ollut se, mitä osaat, vaan kenet tunnet. Hyvä veli - ja yhä useammin myös hyvä sisar -verkostot elävät ja voivat hyvin, mutta onko se korruptiota tai modernia nepotismia? Nämä käsitteet tuntuvat usein hämärtyvän, kun ne osuvat omalle kohdalle.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-18636882367964351372008-05-09T12:29:00.007+03:002008-05-09T13:39:07.150+03:00"we live / the opposite / daring"A strange news item came to my attention last week: on 1st May, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7376919.stm">the BBC ran a story</a> about a motion in the Greek parliament to restrict the use of the word 'lesbian' to natives of the Greek island, Lesbos. The modern meaning of the word stems, of course, from the fact that Sappho, who wrote extensively about her love of women, was herself a native of the island. The title of this post is from Sappho's fragment 24C, translated by Anne Carson. In the original: ζ]ώο[μεν ... ]εναντ[ ... τ]όλμαν[<br /><br />The parliamentary motion sounds far-fetched, to say the least. The Guardian offers <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/08/gayrights.greece">a more detailed insight into Lesbian and lesbian life on the island</a>. From these snippets of interviews with the natives, the problems stem largely from Greek tourists from the mainland, while the islanders themselves largely welcome lesbian tourists with open arms. I particularly liked the comment: "So long as they leave our women alone, they are welcome".<br /><br />In the extremely unlikely event that this act passes through the Greek parliament (it would make them a laughing stock), it's hard to imagine its having any effect on the international use of the word. Languages develop as they will, and it's impossible to rein them in after the fact. Not to mention the fact that, around the world, people who identify themselves as lesbians significantly outnumber the inhabitants of the island. <br /><br />Besides, this isn't the first time the Greeks have given us a synonym for the unmentionable. In the 19th century, the term 'uranian' was a common euphemism for all manner of sexual deviances, and derives from the word 'Uranus' / Οὐρανός (with its highly unfortunate English pronunciation). <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranian">According to one version of the story</a>, Aphrodite was born of Uranus (a birth in which "the female has no part") and later came to be associated with "a noble love for male youths". The word 'dyke' is also of Greek origin, and comes from Dika / Δίκα, one of Sappho's most favoured pupils. And if I remember correctly, Forster's <span style="font-style:italic;">Maurice</span> (and, doubtless, Hall's <span style="font-style:italic;">The Well of Loneliness</span>, too) also makes mention of the fact that the characters are "like the Greeks". Hmmm... By all accounts, they've been getting up to all sorts for over two millennia!<br /><br />To finish with, I loved this comment from one of the women interviewed in the Guardian: <blockquote>"Thank God Sappho was born on Lesbos, not Rhodes," says Sandra, on holiday from Leeds with a group of friends to celebrate her 60th birthday. "Or we would be stuck being known as Rhodesians."</blockquote>DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-82732457172285705852008-04-29T11:28:00.011+03:002008-04-29T12:52:08.326+03:00European Fantasy in PaperbackIn 2005 I translated <a href="http://thelatereview.blogspot.com/2005/12/finished-product.html">an extensive anthology of Finnish fantasy literature</a>, edited by Johanna Sinisalo, one of the the foremost SF writers in Finland. Some time later I was approached by Sinisalo to translate another of her short stories for an American anthology, the SFWA European Hall of Fame (2007), which features "sixteen contemporary masterpieces of science fiction from the continent". Edited by James and Kathryn Morrow, the anthology gives an overview of contemporary European fantasy writing, presenting it as both similar and distinct from the North American tradition of SF writing (Gaiman et al.) James Morrow's opening essay, 'Extrapolations of Things Past: A Barbarously Brief Account of European Science from <span style="font-style:italic;">Micromégas</span> to Microchips', is informed and insightful, and serves as an excellent introduction to the collection.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/SFWA-European-Hall-Fame-Contemporary/dp/0765315378/">The SFWA European Hall of Fame</a> has recently been released in paperback, and in honour of this a video has been posted on YouTube (link below), featuring an interview with the editors about the process of putting the book together and with one of the authors on his feelings about having his work translated. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-PA6wKhyOQ&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j-PA6wKhyOQ&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object><br /><br />It's always fascinating listening to people – authors, translators, editors – talk about how they view the translation process. It's clear that most authors welcome the opportunity to have their works translated by professional native speakers (a certain Finnish playwright notwithstanding). However, working with editors, who are outside the initial creative process due to not speaking the source language, can be problematic, as their priority is the translation, while the role of the original is often seen as secondary. Not so with this collection. <br /><br />As they point out in the interview, rather than normativise the text for an American readership, the Morrows actively encouraged all translators to retain as much of the feel of the original as possible. That being said, adherence to the original versus normativisation is always subject to the context and topos of the text; it is impossible to suggest that a given solution is necessarily desirable in every instance (as a certain Finnish playwright seems incapable of understanding). In the case of Sinisalo's 'Baby Doll' (the text featured in this collection), we all agreed that the language needed to be as accessible to an American readership as possible. After all, the subject matter – the over-sexualisation of pre-teenagers – is by no means a specifically Finnish problem. <br /><br />This translation process differed considerably from previous ones in that, for the first time, I was working for an American publisher. I speak and translate into British English, so the Morrows agreed to Americanise my initial translation. This was an eye-opening experience; I realised that, though I have no difficulty understanding American English, the differences between our two variants of the language run far deeper than that we say "tomahto", they say "tomayto". <br /><br />Thankfully, there was no need to call the whole thing off – I had to get that in somehow! It was like going through an additional level of editing. The Morrows sent me a revised version of the text, I then went through it and said whether they had strayed too far from the Finnish, or whether a certain phrase might better suit the feel of the original, until we reached a version all parties were happy with. There was much to think about: apart from vocabulary, word order and syntax is often markedly different; verb declension differs; people swear differently... <br /><br />Actually having to engage with this on a textual level made me understand the full extent of the chasm between our modes of expression. Just as non-natives cannot translate into a target language that is not their native language, I will never be able to translate into American English, as I'll always need a native speaker to go through the text for me, and vice versa. Of course, <span style="font-style:italic;">real translators</span>, being humble people, will be the first to acknowledge this; we have the conviction to know when we are right, but we also know where our expertise comes to an end. It is depressing that, in my experience, non-native translators have such an aggrandised image of their own abilities that they lack a default setting that says, "Sorry, I'm not qualified to translate that". What a shame that a certain Finnish playwright also falls into that category...DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-33802989155337546942008-04-24T11:22:00.009+03:002008-04-24T11:55:26.198+03:00What's in a name?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgyaoI_XcKyc_gZoRqpq6RTclPk1GjbUeVSTMkoVeGjUsWbLhBl9zguwQsv3n-rF2980PcJJVSROewwA4XthQE6rm5pfd3kIK-bkq87pelGp9NsAn3WT01W9COqc9xaeuiobx/s1600-h/Mattila_workout.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNgyaoI_XcKyc_gZoRqpq6RTclPk1GjbUeVSTMkoVeGjUsWbLhBl9zguwQsv3n-rF2980PcJJVSROewwA4XthQE6rm5pfd3kIK-bkq87pelGp9NsAn3WT01W9COqc9xaeuiobx/s400/Mattila_workout.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5192732603346578354" /></a><br />Karita Mattila's new home workout DVD – now available from stores across the country! Weight loss on Mattila's four-point plan guaranteed – or your money back!<br /><br />Joking aside, though I haven't listened to it, I'm sure this is an excellent disc. Kaija Saariaho's <span style="font-style:italic;">Quatre instants</span> were written for Mattila and she has championed them ever since (unlike many performers who commission works, perform them once or twice, then conveniently forget about them). Given her acclaimed performances in the operas of Leoš Janáček, I imagine her voice is well suited to the music of Dvořák and Rachmaninov. Silly cover art for what is probably an excellent release. <br /><br />Coming up with suitable cover art presents a wealth of challenges. The choir I sing with is about to release a CD of contemporary choral music, but what to put on the cover is an sensitive issue and can have a very real effect on what people buy and what they don't. Like, I imagine, the majority of people, I'm a sucker for judging a book / bottle of wine / CD by its cover. How can we make this disc different from all the thousands of other discs of contemporary choral music? The cover art serves as a calling card for the product as a whole. What to name one's disc is another minefield. A friend is currently recording a disc of kannel music (what's a kannel, I hear you ask!) That, of course, is part of the problem. This is an instrument with few exponents, so the title of the disc must both enhance the mystique of the instrument, while making it seem accessible to a wider audience. Tricky. <br /><br />Oh! My recording of Britten's <span style="font-style:italic;">Billy Budd</span> has just arrived from Amazon! Odd cover art: a man (presumably Billy) tied to the helm of a ship, the whole image airbrushed into something that could be from a collection by Pierre & Gilles. Hmmm... a bit homoerotic. Great cast, though. I'll have to sign off now and listen to it immediately. Review to follow – watch this space!DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-23467124884677235122008-04-20T12:21:00.002+03:002008-04-20T12:43:09.254+03:00Keep it down!There was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/arts/music/20noise.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp">an interesting piece</a> in the New York Times this morning about noise levels in symphony orchestras. Having spent almost ten years playing with the university orchestra in Helsinki and rehearsing in the far too small music hall at the student building, I'm only too well acquainted with the problems of overly loud, potentially damaging rehearsal situations. <br /><br />It's a complicated problem; for me, wearing earplugs is <span style="font-style:italic;">absolutely not</span> the solution, as it means you can hardly hear yourself, thus making it far more difficult to play in tune. There seems to be something of an obsession in Scandinavia with earplugs – incredible as it sounds, I've even heard of people who wear them in string quartet rehearsals or while practicing! I've always thought that if the music is meant to be loud, there's no point in trying to counter the effect by damping it out. Why try and regulate your experience of the music? Having said that, I do often feel sorry for bassoonists who have to sit right i front of enormous brass sections day after day. <br /><br />The danger with the EU directive mentioned in the article is that it could start affecting the way people play, the way people compose and conduct. Though undeniably good news for the hearing of our orchestral musicians, this surely can't be good for the long-term development of classical music. The mere thought of a conductor asking players to keep the noise down at, say, the very end of Mahler 1 or 2 makes me shudder... <br /><br />This is largely a question of acoustics. The music hall in which I regularly rehearse may be fine for smaller ensembles and choirs, but was not designed to house an entire symphony orchestra, and rehearsing loud music in there (e.g. Shostakovich 5 all last spring) can be painful. Finlandia-talo has the opposite effect. Last week I went to listen to Messiaen's gargantuan, 90-minute oratorio<span style="font-style:italic;"> La Transfiguration de nôtre Seigneur</span>, which featured a huge orchestra, four choirs and soloists, yet the performance never sounded too loud because the acoustics at Finlandia-talo swallow up the sound, making it sound as though the players are in a different room. <br /><br />As for the Great Hall of the university, where the university orchestra often performs... I hate playing there because you can't hear other people and all you can hear is your own playing, but people assure me that when you're in the audience it sounds great. This, after all, is the same hall in which many of Sibelius' (often very loud) orchestral works were first performed. Let's hope the people designing the new Musiikkitalo will get it right, so that loud pieces can still be enjoyed, performed and compsoed so that neither audiences nor performers end up losing their hearing.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-60718470080873742942008-04-01T14:14:00.008+03:002008-04-01T14:54:32.674+03:00The April FoolsIt's finally happened! Weeks after it would have happened anywhere else in the world, admittedly, but it's happened all the same: our sleazy foreign minister Ilkka Kanerva has been fired - I mean, erm, relieved of his duties - minutes before the magazine publishing some of the 200-odd dirty text messages he sent to an erotic dancer using his work phone <span style="font-style:italic;">funded out of taxpayers' money</span> arrived on shop shelves this morning. The best April Fool's surprise I could have wished for.<br /><br />His replacement, toothy, gung-ho NATO boy Alexander Stubb, is hardly any better, though I suppose we'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt for five minutes or so. I first heard of Kanerva's demise upon arriving at my office shortly before midday this morning. On the underground, I'd read a column in today's Metro (which went to print before the "shock" announcement and Jyrki Katainen's Hillary-esque tears at the press conference) by Timo Harakka, who, along with Jukka Relander, is fast becoming one of my favourite columnists in Finland. I wonder what the column would have read had he written it a day or so later. No doubt we'll find out soon. <br /><br />Though I'd initially thought I wouldn't bother posting on the subject of Kanerva and his dubious behaviour (partly, also, because I've been working, travelling and my computer has died on me), I now feel justified in doing so, not least out of an unashamed sense of Schadenfreude. Of course, prominent Kokoomus politicians are careful to tow the party lie (I mean, "line", though noticed I had mispelled it in a Freudian slip of the fingers) about how Kanerva should have shown more restraint and should have known better, but that "your personal life is your personal life", blah blah blah. <br /><br />Most revealing, I feel, is the comment by Ben Zyskowicz, another Kokoomus crony, to the effect that Kanerva was not dismissed because of the text messaging itself, but because of the resulting media furore and because more details of the messages' contents had come to light. So, how are we to understand this? That he is not being dismissed because of what he did (which was morally questionable and, at the very least, amounts to harassment), but only because he was found out! Don't people realise how disgracefully see-through these people are? We can only hope that this is the first step towards voting out the whole, rotten bunch of them. <br /><br />Here is the final paragraph of Harakka's column:<br /><blockquote>Suomessa on paljastunut pyramidihuijaus, jossa on jymäytetty useita kymmeniä tuhansia ihmisiä. Petkutetuille on lupailtu rikkauksia ja menetystä, mutta viime kädessä heidän tehtävänsä on ollut värvätä ystäviä ja perheenjäseniä. Pahimmillaan kokonaiset suvut ja kyläkunnat ovat haksahtaneet huijaukseen.<br /><br />Pyramidin sisäpiiri saavuttaa suuret voitot. Myös seuraavat mukaantulijat menestyvät näkyvästi, mikä juuri houkuttaa suuret ihmisjoukot ansaan.<br /><br />Ahneus lamauttaa viileän harkinnan. Muutaman vuoden välein huijaus paljastuu, mutta heti pelurit lähtevät keräämään uusia kannattajia. Aina löytyy laumoittain hyväuskoisia, jotka lankeavat katteettomiin lupauksiin.<br /><br />Mikseivät he koskaan opi? Varokaa nyt, hyvät ihmiset, jo kokoomusta.</blockquote> Metro, 1.4.2008<br /><br />(Quick translation: "In Finland, a pyramid scheme had been uncovered which has swindled tens of thousands of people. Those cheated were promised riches and success, but their function was merely to recruit their friends and family. At worse, entire families and villages have fallen for this confidence trick. <br />The pyramid's inner circle makes huge gains. The next group of converts also has some visible success, which in turn lures more people into the trap. <br />Greed paralyses our common sense. Every few years the scheme is uncovered, but those involved immediately start looking for new supporters. And there are always herds of people gullible enough to fall for their false promises. <br />Why will they never learn? Good people, beware of the Kokoomus.")DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-71055248465040321512008-02-24T13:44:00.006+02:002008-02-24T14:50:22.803+02:00My sentiments exactly, Mr Ravel!I was lucky enough to get a ticket to Thursday's dress rehearsal of Kaija Saariaho's new opera <span style="font-style:italic;">Adriana Mater</span> at the Finnish National Opera; the official première was last night. Having followed Saariaho's music for the last thirteen years, and having attended three performances of her previous opera <span style="font-style:italic;">L'amour de loin</span>, there was really no question as to whether I was going to like this piece or not. Saariaho's music is captivating, agonisingly beautiful, at times visceral and violent, and <span style="font-style:italic;">Adriana Mater</span> is no exception. For those with Finnish, here is <a href="http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/artikkeli/Adriana+Mater+kertoo+sota-ajan+naistentuskasta+ja+voimasta/1135234304830">Helsingin Sanomat's review</a>.<br /><br />The intricacies and subtleties of the music and staging require too much thought to post about right now, but perhaps I'll return to this subject at a later opportunity. I'm compelled to post regarding a conversation I had last night with K, who had just come from the première. K is himself a formidable and experienced musician, whose opinions I don't take lightly. For me, this fact makes his assessment of the opera all the more alarming. I described the opera as "häkellyttävä" (astounding, astonishing), to which K replied that that would certainly be an appropriate term. After I said that I had expected nothing less from Saariaho, it turned out that his comment was meant sarcastically. "How so?" I asked. "Well, for a start, it's badly written, badly orchestrated, and the orchestra doesn't get to play any melodies," he replied. For a moment, these comments rendered me speechless. Of course, people can disagree on the merits of any given piece of music, and I love a good argument as much as anyone, but in this instance, K's argumentation is, in my opinion, so fundamentally flawed that it has driven me to afford it deeper consideration. <br /><br />Admittedly, I haven't examined the score very closely but, having a knowledge Saariaho's previous music, I think it's fair to say that melody is not and has never been a defining feature of her aesthetic. According to K, the players find the piece "boring". Do they feel cheated because they don't get to play grand melodies, I wonder. Perhaps more than concert music, isn't opera all about the audience, about the experience of listening to an orchestra while being visually stimulated by what is happening on the stage? Boring or not for the musicians, <span style="font-style:italic;">Adriana Mater</span> is a highly successful piece of music theatre precisely because it engages the audience, which for me is a more relevant criterion by which to judge the music than whether the musicians enjoy playing it or not.<br /><br />When I asked K to give an example of how the piece is "badly orchestrated", he mentioned a section in the clarinet part which requires a high c#4. "How can a player be expected to produce this note night after night?" he asked. A quick look on Google reveals <a href="http://userpages.umbc.edu/~emrich/chapter2.html">fingering charts for all the notes up to d4</a>. Agreed, these pitches are at the upper reaches of the clarinet's altissimo register, but you can't call something badly written just because it's difficult. If you claim to play the clarinet, you play the whole clarinet, not just the easy bits.<br /><br />Performers are notorious for taking the path of least resistance when it comes to new music. Too often one hears performers claim that certain techniques are "impossible", when what they mean is that they are difficult, outside the boundaries of standard technique (agreed), the implication being that these techniques actually involve some practice. At a new music workshop a few years ago, the cellist who played my piece came up to me later in the evening and told me that I shouldn't write microtones because they're very hard to produce. Well, cry me a river! I replied by explaining that, as a string player, I know exactly how difficult (or not) it is to produce microtones on a string instrument. To give a more extreme example: Brian Ferneyhough's music is "difficult", but if you decide to perform it you then take on the responsibility of learning it properly. That this is a revelation to some professional musicians is surprising to say the least. <br /><br />This whole conversation – and writing this post – reminds me of the exchange between amputee pianist Paul Wittgenstein and Maurice Ravel regarding the latter's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand (commissioned by the former). Wittgenstein wanted to rearrange some aspects of the piano part claiming famously that "performers must not be slaves!" Ravel's answer was simple and to the point: "Performers <span style="font-style:italic;">are</span> slaves." The day composers allow performers' whims and, dare I say, in some cases, laziness to dictate what can and can't be done with their instruments will be the day all progress in the field of musical expression grinds to a halt.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-10525827475219449102008-02-14T20:05:00.004+02:002008-02-14T20:41:51.847+02:00Filth and WisdomJust when you thought it was safe to go back into the cinema, Madonna goes and does it again. Not as actor (for which we may be eternally thankful) but as director (groan). Like most people who haven't been at the <a href="http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html">Berlin Film Festival</a> this week, I haven't seen this film, so I can't give any first-hand reaction to it. Judging, however, by the reviews, including <a href="http://film.guardian.co.uk/festivals/news/0,,2256320,00.html">this one by Peter Bradshaw</a> in today's Guardian, I seriously wonder what it's chances are of ever being put on general release. <br /><br />Ms Ciccone / Mrs Ritchie is a perplexing, vexing figure. Her music is bland in the extreme, yet it is touted, particularly to young gay men, as if it were the pinnacle of expressive art (note to self: try not to sound too much like <a href="http://thelatereview.blogspot.com/2008/02/and-while-were-on-subject-of-prejudice.html">Peter Giles</a>...) Her use of Abba's music in a recent single was, in my opinion, utterly unforgivable and serves merely to underline the vacuousness and sheer lack of any originality that characterises Madonna's career. Her acting career was abysmal (<em>Swept Away</em> and <em>The Next Best Thing</em> rank alongside <em>Crossroads </em>as possibly some of the worst films I've ever seen). And so forth and so forth... <br /><br />Now we have her directorial debut bearing the vaguely Austenesque title <em>Filth and Wisdom</em>. Peter Bradshaw's one-star review certainly doesn't spare the wrath. But really, in <a href="http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2256255,00.html">a related article</a>, Madonna states: "I have always been inspired by the films of Goddard [sic], Visconti, Passolini [sic] and Fellini and hope that I may one day make something that comes close to their genius." The audacity of this statement leaves me speechless. <br /><br />I'm pleased to note that the Guardian refrains from referring to Madonna as the Queen of Pop - I mean, who ever said she was the Queen of Pop? I could name a whole list of people manifestly more deserving of that title, but whose careers have suffered by virtue of actually being able to sing without the intervention of modern audio technology [Peter Giles alert!!!] - and settles for the far more apt Queen of Reinvention. I'm also indebted to Julie Burchill for many laughs in her numerous columns on the Immaterial Girl herself (two good examples of which can be found <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,947585,00.html">here </a>and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,541293,00.html">here</a>). All I can say is that if the film is ever released in Finland, I will go and watch it and attempt to post an objective review here, but until then, let's not hold our collective breath...DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-86386943935883278652008-02-14T14:51:00.007+02:002008-02-14T20:43:32.197+02:00Prejudice and PrideReading through Peter Giles' interesting history of the fall and rise of the counter tenor (entitled – what else? – <span style="font-style:italic;">The Counter Tenor</span>) I was struck and a little disappointed by his attitudes to any music other than 'classical'. (Here I use inverted commas just as he does to refer to any other form of music). Had the following opinions been published in, say, the 1920s, one could almost understand them, though his level of animosity towards musical development would still have seemed rather alien to our modern sensibilities. The fact that these opinions were published in 1982 makes one wonder why his publisher didn't suggest he dilute his vitriol. Here is a typical example:<br /><blockquote>The whole world of serious music is itself the subject of incredible prejudice. It is ignored good-naturedly, or scornfully dismissed as irrelevant by a now sizeable and growing proportion of the general public, who know nothing of any tradition before Elvis Presley and care less. (Giles 1982:3)</blockquote><br />And...<br /><blockquote>So we have a fascinating situation: on the one hand a tradition legitimate and honoured, successor to the Romantic, Classical and Baroque, going back to Renaissance and Medieval times, but hidebound in many matters. Next to it, another tradition, recent and clearly illegitimate, artificial, of mammon, in many ways barbaric, all too prey to the whim of the moment and the wave of the manipulator's chequebook; but at least utterly free to go where it will within its limited abilities and 'cultural' boundaries. The first is the undoubted arena for, surely, the ultimate in vocal and instrumental technique, for mankind's most profound musical experiences and statements. The second, for the most part and with the exception of the art form 'jazz' and certain musicianly groups like 'Sky', comprises ephemera perhaps more of interest to the sociologist than the true artist musician. (Giles 1982:4-5)</blockquote><br />The irony that these comments and countless others like them appear in a chapter entitled 'Prejudice and the Status Quo' will surely be lost on nobody. Neither, indeed, is the irony of two lengthy citations, both written in the 12th century, in the following chapter on the development of organum singing and the rise of the Paris Notre Dame School. It would appear that Giles in fact part of greater, not to mention highly legitimate, tradition of moaning about the development of music, a tradition stretching back a thousand years.<br /><blockquote>Whence hath the Church so many organs and musicall instruments? To what purpose, I pray you, is that terrible blowing of belloes, expressing rather the crashes of thunder than the sweetnesse of the voyce? To what purpose serves that contraction and inflection of the voyce? [...] Sometimes, which is a shame so to speake, it is enforced into a horse's neighing: sometimes the masculine vigour being laid aside it is sharpened with the shrillnesse of a woman's voyce: now and then it is writhed and retorted into a certain artificial circumvolution. (Aelred of Rievaulx, Speculum Charitatis, 1123)</blockquote> <br />As Giles points out, "John of Salisbury was also worried by much of what he heard": <br /><blockquote>The very service of the Church is defiled, in that before the face of the Lord, in the very sanctuary of sanctuaries, they, showing off as it were, strive with effeminate dalliance of wanton tones and musical phrasing to astound, enervate, and dwarf simple souls. [...] When this type of music is carried to the extreme it is more likely to stir lascivious sensations in the loins than devotion in the heart. (Policraticus, trans. John of Salisbury, 12th century).</blockquote>And he wasn't even talking about Elvis Presley...DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-72537309323685230612008-01-23T14:25:00.000+02:002008-01-23T14:33:13.711+02:00Finnish History IIFurther to <a href="http://thelatereview.blogspot.com/2008/01/crash-course-in-finnish-history.html">my post about the conflicting interpretations of Finnish history</a>, here is the letter from the ambassador (which I have abridged) sent in response to Alex Ross's column on Sibelius:<br /><br /><blockquote>Other than in the early 1930s, when Fascist elements unsuccessfully challenged our democratic system, Fascism has never played a significant role in Finnish politics. There were never any "Nazi-style race laws" in force in Finland, and the Finnish government's wartime policy of resisting German attempts to inspire anti-Jewish actions in Finland has been publicly appreciated by our Jewish communities.</blockquote><br />[However, the handing over of Finnish Jews to the Nazis is also well documented.]<br /><blockquote>For Finland, the Continuation War of 1941-44, as it is called in our history, has its roots in the Winter War[...] the annexation of the Baltic countries, in the summer of 1940, demonstrated the expansive nature of the Soviet policies and left the area vulnerable to further aggression. The Continuation War, then, was a defensive struggle for my country, politically separate from the war of the great powers.</blockquote><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pekka Lintu, Ambassador of Finland, Washington, D.C.</span> (printed in the <span style="font-style:italic;">New Yorker</span>, July 23 2007)DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-85954165411683683982008-01-19T18:45:00.000+02:002008-01-19T19:27:18.382+02:00Our man in NorthfieldI was very pleased to note this afternoon that my dear friend in Northfield MN, Alex Freeman, has launched <a href="http://www.alexfreemanmusic.com/">his own website</a>. The site contains everything you'll ever need to know about Alex who, as a composer, singer-songwriter, tenor, bass trombonist and, latterly, assistant professor of music at <a href="http://www.carleton.edu/">Carleton College</a>, is without a doubt one of the most multitalented people I am honoured in knowing. <br /><br />Much as, on a recent visit to London, I tortured myself by reading the concert listings at the South Bank, leaving myself hopelessly salivating over all the wonderful concerts I wouldn't be able to attend, Alex's site features tantalising news of upcoming events and performances of his work. If you happen to be in Northfield on February 8th you're in for a treat. For anyone outside Finland, the performance of <span style="font-style:italic;">Magnolia</span> for kantele, a Finnish harp-like instrument, promises to be quite an event. <br /><br />But for those of us who can't make it, hope comes in the form of mp3 downloads of some of Alex's recent work, including three of the <span style="font-style:italic;">Four Songs of Hellaakoski</span> performed by the <a href="http://www.helsinki.fi/jarj/hol/">HOL choir</a>, a group that has championed music by Alex and <a href="http://theshortroadtonirvana.blogspot.com">Canadian composer Matthew Whittall</a>, under the direction of Esko Kallio. You can also listen to (though not download) a number of other pieces, including <span style="font-style:italic;">O Magnum Mysterium</span>, a choral work that I had the pleasure of singing in December. Though the loud sneeze during the quiet section is annoying, the performance is great. This music makes me weep.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-30993421757340566832008-01-10T23:36:00.000+02:002008-01-11T00:50:37.809+02:00Crash Course in Finnish HistoryGiven that this blog claims to be a "review" of sorts, it seems fitting to begin 2008 with a review of a film I saw this evening, namely the latest film by Finnish director Lauri Törhönen, <a href="http://www.raja1918.fi/"><span style="font-style:italic;">Raja 1918</span></a> ("Border 1918").<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.fs-film.fi/files/posterpicbig/1276/Raja_juliste.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://www.fs-film.fi/files/posterpicbig/1276/Raja_juliste.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>The film is set during the Finnish Civil War of 1918, a year after Finland had declared independence from Russia. In a nutshell, the war was between the "Whites" (the national guard) and the "Reds" (the Bolsheviks). The film follows the young Captain Carl von Munck who is sent to the newly established border to make sure that undesirable elements (Russians, Jews, Bolsheviks) are kept out of Finland. Of course, ther's also a romantic subplot between von Munck and the local school teacher Maaria Lintu, who, it transpires, is hiding her Bolshevik fiancé from the firing squads. [The "tragedy" motif in the soundtrack was presumably a quote from <span style="font-style:italic;">Im Treibhaus</span>, the third movement of Wagner's Wesendonk-lieder and a study for the beginning of Act III of <span style="font-style:italic;">Tristan and Isolde</span>.] <br /><br />Anyway, back to the film! I was most impressed by the script. In less than a hundred years spoken Finnish has changed radically and this script preserves a level of formality that younger audiences are unused to hearing. The actors delivered the antiquated dialogue convincingly. <br /><br />However, far more interesting (almost than the film itself) is what the film tells us about Finnish history. Some Finns have a difficult relationship with their nation's history. To give, in my opinion, a telling example: in the July 9th edition of the <span style="font-style:italic;">New Yorker</span> music critic Alex Ross wrote <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/07/09/070709fa_fact_ross?currentPage=1">an extended piece about Jean Sibelius</a>, Finland's "national composer". The article goes through each of the seven symphonies in considerable detail and, by way of offering the reader some context to the Eighth symphony, which Sibelius eventually destroyed, Ross explains that:<br /><blockquote>Then, in 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, and Finland became part of a chess game between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Early in the war, Finland was applauded in the West for its hardy stand against the Soviets, and Sibelius was more popular than ever. In 1941, though, Finland aligned itself with the Germans, partly because Fascist elements had infiltrated the government and the Army, and partly because the Nazis would have taken over the country anyway.</blockquote>[Alex Ross, <span style="font-style:italic;">New Yorker</span> July 9th 2007]<br /><br />The above sentence provoked a letter of response (which I can't locate for the purposes of quotation) from none other than the Finnish ambassador to the US who dismissed Ross' summation of events as essentially untrue and proceeded to tell readers just how hard "my people" had fought for "my country". Though Finland's relationship with Nazi Germany is well documented (most recently in Prof. David Kirby's book <span style="font-style:italic;">A Concise History of Finland</span>), it is common in Finland to claim that there was no relationship whatsoever (the fact that Marshal Mannerheim and Hitler were on such good terms that, in 1942, the Führer paid Mannerheim a surprise visit on the latter's birthday seems easily forgotten). <br /><br />Similarly, Swedish historian Henrik Arnstad caused a furore here when, in an article in Svenska Dagbladet, he suggested that "the entire Finnish foreign ministry should be sent on a crash course in history" – again in reference to the systematic denial in Finland of any dealings whatsoever with the Third Reich. [For those with Swedish, the article can be read <a href="http://www.svd.se/opinion/brannpunkt/artikel_374506.svd">here</a>.] The outcry over Arnstad's book and his subsequent articles speaks volumes about a nation still not at peace with its past. <br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Raja 1918</span> thus marks something of a departure for Finnish cinema: in gruesome detail, the film points out that the ethnic cleansing that took place in the early 1940s has its roots in the rise of nationalist sentiment during the Civil War. The film attempts to demonstrate how easily concentration camp style "quarantines" were set up along the new border and how people were only allowed into the country if they looked right (ie. didn't look Russian or Jewish) and could pronounce Finnish words without an accent. Towards the end of the film, there is even a scene in which a visiting German officer and another high-ranking Finnish officer are discussing how easy it would be to attack Russia as a unified force and that their primary objective should be to move the Finnish border beyond St Petersburg, fortify their "indigenous people", thus creating a "Greater Finland" (Suur-Suomi). Though this is 1918, the sentiment is clear. <br /><br />There are numerous works of fiction on the subject of the Finnish Civil War (two recent examples being Leena Lander's <span style="font-style:italic;">Käsky</span> and Asko Sahlberg's <span style="font-style:italic;">Tammilehto</span>, neither of which are available in English), but with subtitles on a DVD this film will – and should – reach a much wider audience. Highly recommended – even for members of the Finnish foreign ministry.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-1365846963051778932007-12-31T22:04:00.000+02:002007-12-31T23:11:25.983+02:00I know that one, though...Well, I've been extraordinarily quiet these last few weeks. This is mostly due to working hard, being in the United Kingdom and the fact that Facebook's Scrabulous seems to have taken over my life... But as the minutes tick away before the start of 2008, I thought I'd better post something of interest just to have something in my December column. So here is a snippet I found this afternoon:<br /><br />The following article is from the January 2008 edition of BBC Music Magazine. It's a shame this isn't a more widely read publication in, say, Finland, a country with, in my experience, some of the most congested and bronchial concert audiences in the civilised world. The idea of the great Sir Simon Rattle (pictured in a wonderful caricature by the Belgian sketch artist Jan Op De Beeck, which lends extra credence to a joke Magnus Lindberg told me a few years ago and which almost certainly deserves a post all of its own) instructing a Carnegie Hall audience in how to cough correctly (ie. discreetly) is one I shall treasure. Enjoy!<br /><br />(P.S. New Year's Resolution #1: Post more actively in 2008!)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.opdebeeck.com/afbeeldingen/karikatuurschetsen/large/simon%20rattle.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px;" src="http://www.opdebeeck.com/afbeeldingen/karikatuurschetsen/large/simon%20rattle.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Splutter Ye Not</span><br />So, what's the best way to cough? Instruction on this very subject has been given mid-symphony by Sir Simon Rattle, who finally lost his patience with a persistent hacker in New York. Conducting the Berlin Philharmonic in Mahler's Ninth Symphony at Carnegie Hall, Rattle broke off after the first movement to address the audience. 'This piece starts with silence and returns to silence,' he said. 'The audience can help to create the piece by remaining silent.' The silver-headed maestro then proceeded to whip out a handkerchief from his pocket and show how best to muffle the sound, should anyone continue to find the urge to clear their throat simply too much to resist. The audience, we understand, behaved impeccably thereafter.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-977768572674548692007-11-09T23:43:00.000+02:002007-11-09T23:56:26.274+02:00The world according to Mr BoyesAt first I didn't think I'd post on this subject, but here we go...<br /><br />It's nice to see the <span style="font-style:italic;">Times</span> doing its bit to uphold journalistic standards. Wednesday saw the publication of <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2828084.ece">an article by columnist Roger Boyes</a> on the Jokela school shooting, a piece of journalism as absurd as it is ridiculous. After a deluge of comments on the original article, Boyes today published <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2841038.ece">a follow-up</a>, in which, instead of righting the wrongs of his first piece and engaging in constructive debate, he continues to ridicule Finns and Finland with comments such as:<br /><blockquote>Finland ranks as one of the happiest countries in Europe. It also has one of the highest suicide rates, the third highest divorce rate in Europe (beaten by Sweden again!) and 56 per cent gun ownership. So that adds up to a pretty complex society, no?</blockquote><br />At the last count, the original post had received 192 comments. I don't know whether the <span style="font-style:italic;">Times</span> has decided to stem the flow of comments on the new article, but the one I posted earlier this evening still hasn't appeared. So, for the record, here is my response to Mr Boyes.<br /><blockquote>Mr Boyes. As, behind your sarcasm, I’m sure you’re well aware, the outrage over your article does not represent an unwillingness on the part of the Finns to discuss the implications (for Finland and elsewhere) of Wednesday’s events, rather it is an expression of dismay at a cobbling together of isolated statistics which, at the <span style="font-style:italic;">Times</span>, apparently passes as serious journalism. As a foreigner here, one’s eyes are perhaps more open to the problems that exist, and those problems should rightly be discussed, but your original article goes no way towards doing this. The young feel disaffected in many countries (not least the UK); they carry mobile and spend hours on the internet; their parents are divorced. What, then, if we disregard your misplaced Kalevala analogies, makes this “a very Finnish affair”? Whether you have visited Finland in the past is beside the point. It is the specious nature of your comments that has caused offence, not the fact that you ask valid, necessary questions. </blockquote>DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-39115507349553158652007-11-08T11:22:00.000+02:002007-11-08T12:24:01.759+02:00Bowling for JokelaAs incredible as it sounds, I only heard about the school shooting that occurred only some 50km from where I live about 12 hours after it happened. Not having a television and being on the move all day yesterday may have had something to do with it. When I was on the bus, I heard something on the radio about somebody being "rushed to Töölö hospital", but couldn't hear the rest of the item. <br /><br />It goes without saying that yesterday's events were shocking beyond belief – I don't think there's any need to reiterate that. In a Finnish context the idea of a school shooting seems even more outlandish, because things like that simply don't happen here. Virtually nothing happens here – or so people like to think. Finns and other Scandinavians often seem to live in a fairytale land where they believe they are immune to these freak attacks. But if, as the media has now pointed out, Finland does indeed have the third highest ratio of guns per capita <span style="font-style:italic;">in the world</span>, the answer to the question "How can something like this ever happen in Finland?" seems painfully obvious. <br /><br />From the Guardian, 8th Nov 2007:<br /><blockquote>Police said the killer's gun was legally owned but he had obtained a licence only three weeks ago. Finland has the most heavily armed civilian population in Europe, and is third worldwide, after the US and Yemen.<br />Although murder rates are higher in neighbouring Russia and the former Soviet Baltic states, Finland has the highest murder rate in western Europe at around 28 per 100,000 people.<br />According to a survey this year by Geneva's Institute of International Studies, there are 56 privately owned firearms for every 100 civilian Finns. The guns must be licensed and a licence costs €32 (£22.50).</blockquote><br />Can I really be the only person to whom these statistics come as a real shock? I'm stunned that a firearm licence costs less than the average train ticket and that anyone over the age of 18 can obtain one. However, Finland having the highest murder rate in western Europe doesn't come as a surprise. You only have to open the paper to see that, particularly in the countryside, the only way to sort out an argument with your neighbour is to shoot them with your hunting rifle. "My girlfriend left me, so I shot her" is not an uncommon quote in Finnish newspapers.<br /><br />Where does this leave the indignation of those asking how this can happen in Finland? It does happen in Finland, it probably happens every day – on a smaller scale – but too often we turn a blind eye to it. I glanced at Finland for Thought this morning, the blog I love to hate, to see what they were saying about the shooting. <a href="http://www.finlandforthought.net/2007/08/29/firearm-ownership-in-finland-is-the-third-highest-in-the-world/">The issue of guns in Finland came up there a few months ago</a>. The opening comments on blog owner Phil's post speak volumes about the prevailing attitudes over at FfT:<br /><blockquote>Finland has the third highest number of guns in the world per capita, yet everyone isn’t shooting each other!? This must really confuse the anti-gun advocates! Or maybe, it’s not the *guns* that are the problem…??</blockquote><br />Every time something like this happens (Dunblane, Columbine, Virginia Tech), we ask ourselves how many more people are going to have to die before something is finally done about the gun laws in our countries. The Second Amendment (and rest of the Constitution) was written in the belief that most people are decent, honourable citizens who will treat others with dignity and exercise restraint in front of the privileges the Constitution affords them. Perhaps I'm a misanthrope, but I'm not convinced that the majority of people have the common sense necessary to handle a firearm. Though I often dislike his style and his methods, on the issue of gun control, Michael Moore is absolutely right. <br /><br />I love seeing conservatives and libertarians proved wrong; I only wish it had been in different circumstances. Perhaps you'd like to retract the above statement, Phil?DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-11976047033761870332007-10-29T22:38:00.000+02:002007-11-20T00:33:07.496+02:00Formula One Goes Channel Five<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBh_EOlQWTu3Rs1bXRIpl-XFAvrk4TqY3djsGruQd_eVaJ43Napz-eHzS-ID25j5eyJy98HITVgYpDMXUS-aynz5ODonkuUHnXNl5zDaWZRiMBb8s3Tqg9FIoEGuoE9oLTJjK/s1600-h/Kimi-Cumshot.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmBh_EOlQWTu3Rs1bXRIpl-XFAvrk4TqY3djsGruQd_eVaJ43Napz-eHzS-ID25j5eyJy98HITVgYpDMXUS-aynz5ODonkuUHnXNl5zDaWZRiMBb8s3Tqg9FIoEGuoE9oLTJjK/s400/Kimi-Cumshot.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5126873052465034514" /></a><br />Is it only me, or is there something distinctly pornographic about this and other recent photographs from the Formula One Championships? I remember laughing with O a few years ago, when Kimi Räikkönen won his first Grand Prix, at how even Helsingin Sanomat plastered a photograph of the boyish, downy-cheeked, "barely legal" Kimi in a similar pseudo-bukkake pose, but now I realise that the photograph in question, and the one above, are part of a much larger genre. <br /><br />It's startling quite how closely the imagery of Formula One resembles the aesthetics of porn. The above picture might in another context be called an "autofacial" or something similar. Another common image is what I'll call "the ejaculation pose" (photographs which immortalise the moment upon which the winner first corks the champagne bottle at crotch-height, letting the contents spurt forth). Then there are those in which the winner drenches the other two drivers standing on the podium in the remaining fluids... I mean, champagne. <br /><br />For all its inherent masculinity, the world of sport is positively brimming with homoeroticism, both overt and covert. For years I've wondered why footballers embrace each other, jump on top of each other and generally frolic on the pitch when somebody scores a goal; rugby scrumming has always held a certain amount of interest; and as for Greco-Roman wrestling... the sight of two men in tight (and I mean <span style="font-style:italic;">tight</span>) lycra jumpsuits grappling each other on a court is quite a spectacle. I'm sure there's been much more written on the subject of homoeroticism in sport and the portrayal of the victorious man (do women shower themselves and in each other in champagne?) – numerous sociologists and queer theorists have doubtless had a stab – though for the time being I'll just have to make do with the pictures.<br /><br />PS: I promised K <span style="font-style:italic;">last week</span> that I would post on this subject, so thanks for your patience! Your comments, insightful and otherwise, are most welcome. My computer was at the repair store all week... Technology, eh! I don't know whether you can live with it, but as I've discovered you certainly can't live without it...DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-45718556384645276012007-10-21T14:45:00.000+03:002007-10-21T15:29:01.873+03:00Coz it's really, really importantI promise to write something on a subject other than British politics soon, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up!<br /><br />You can always count on <span style="font-style:italic;">The Sun</span> for some informed debate on burning issues of the day. I mean, who wants to listen to politicians' opinions anyway? They're all the same, I say, can't trust any of them! Far more interesting, not to mention edifying, are the opinions of <span style="font-style:italic;">Top Gear</span> presenter Jeremy Clarkson and one of the singers from Girls Aloud, both of whom are, of course, renowned for the insight and depth of their political commentary – or something like that...<br /><br />To give him credit, Clarkson does present <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/eu_referendum/article273590.ece">a rather cogent argument</a> for what the Treaty means and why it is important that we, the great British public, ratify it. He argues in favour of a referendum and, I was surprised to read, says that he would vote Yes. I'm surprised Mr Murdoch allowed such dissenting, pro-European opinions to be published in one of his papers. <br /><blockquote>And before I’m accused by the Guardian of being a Little Englander with his head stuck in the 1950s, I should like to say that I like the idea of a common Europe with the same money, the same airport trolleys, the same plug sockets and the same property laws. [...] I like the idea that I could work in Greece or France and it’d be just the same as working in Swindon. I also like the idea of a giant European state tempering American stupidity and Chinese economic might. I would therefore vote YES in a referendum. But since we live in a democracy, I would absolutely respect the result if everyone else voted no. </blockquote><br />Far more in line with <span style="font-style:italic;">The Sun's</span> traditional politics is Nicola Roberts. Who? You know, that singer from Girls Aloud. Oh, her! Apparently, <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/eu_referendum/article279985.ece">the paper claims</a>, she is "more concerned about Britain's future than her nails or make up". Good to know. <br /><blockquote>Personally I’m against us signing up under the terms being suggested because it means we will be handing over so many powers to unelected representatives in Europe. It will mean they could bring in new laws and dictate the way we lead our lives in Britain. That’s why I think that, if we do get a referendum, we should vote No. Others might disagree – that is their right in a democracy – but at least let’s all have a debate about it.<br />If young people today don’t know anything about the EU constitution they should go and educate themselves and find out how it could effect [sic] them because it’s important. Do we really want to end up living in a country where we can’t make our own decisions based on what is best for Britain?</blockquote><br />Why do I get the distinct impression this was <span style="font-style:italic;">not</span> written by Ms Roberts? The text has Sun propagandist rhetoric written all over it. "They" (the terrible other, the foreign, the European, "Brussels") could bring in new laws... Do "we" (the pure, the righteous wronged, the non-European) really want to end up living... And so on and so on ad nauseam.<br /><br />How frustrating that this represents the current level of "debate" on this issue, and how saddening that one paper and its Australian owner seem intent on derailing decades of work simply to protect their own megalomaniacal agenda.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19426987.post-39851101435127688092007-10-17T12:10:00.000+03:002007-10-17T14:52:48.998+03:00Defending our right to stupidityPolly Toynbee does it again! <a href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/eu/comment/0,,2191939,00.html">Another marvellous article</a> in today's Guardian regarding the frenzy of misinformation in the UK over anything "European". Ms Toynbee is absolutely right. A referendum on this issue should never have promised in the first place; Blair should not have given in to pressure from the xenophobic Tories and the right-wing press. Now, instead of addressing the <span style="font-style:italic;">facts</span> surrounding the signing of the Treaty, the debate has descended to bickering over the referendum "we was promised". <br /><br />Democracy is a term often bandied about in the referendum debate. One poster (again, the comments to this article are worth a read: prepare to get angry!) talks of Ms Toynbee's "undemocratic vision"; another, in an echo of the Patriot Act, says that she "intensely dislikes her country". Dissent clearly means you are anti-British – can someone please explain the logic in this equation? Tory sympathisers seem to have conveniently forgotten that it was a Conservative government which, in 1992, voted <span style="font-style:italic;">against</span> a referendum on the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty. But we don't mention that, okay?<br /><br />The whole point of electing government is that these people are better equipped to run the country than you or I. Gordon Brown understands a great deal more about the workings of the economy than most of us. Government ministers also understand far more about the Treaty than the average citizen. At the very least <span style="font-style:italic;">they will have read it</span>. Would it be undemocratic to insist that everyone read the Treaty before voting on it? Are any of the readers of The Sun planning on printing off the Treaty (which is available online), reading it and engaging with what it <span style="font-style:italic;">actually</span> says? One wonders whether they would even be capable of this, so poisoned have they become by the vitriolic (and highly misinformed) anti-European sentiment the Murdoch-run right wing press feeds them. The Daily Telegraph is not much better either. When I was in the UK this summer I was shocked (though not surprised) to see, on the front page of the Telegraph, a sign saying "Sign our Petition Against the EU Treaty" printed in bright yellow and purple, the colours of the heinous UK Independence Party. The paper's affiliations could not have been made any clearer.<br /><br />Far more undemocratic, in my view, would be to hold a referendum in which people end up voting on an issue they know little or nothing about because they cannot be bothered to engage with the issues, casting instead a vote against "Brussels" (whatever that means) and the Euro. It pains me that many people in Britain seem incapable of understanding that the Euro wasn't created simply to further facilitate their holiday to the Costa del Sol. <br /><br />More frightening, however, is the speculation that a No vote would ultimately result in Britain's exit from the EU. In the event of such a catastrophe, I would find it very difficult to have anything further to do with a nation that is prepared to espouse such idiocy.DavidHhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06497387771430321898noreply@blogger.com0