Väinö Eerikki Raitio (15 April 1891, in Sortavala, Grand Duchy of Finland – 10 September 1945, in Helsinki) was part of the small group of composers who appeared in the Finnish art music scene in the 1920s with a new cosmopolitan music style, very different from the dominant conservative National Romanticism.
Raitio's career as a composer reached its peak in the 1920s when eight large symphonicpoems appeared from his pen. Influenced by Alexander Scriabin, his style was too modern for Nordic music circles, and his orchestral work Joutsenet (The Swans, Les Cygnes) of 1919 remained as his sole orchestral piece to be published (in 1938).
Raitio's profile as a composer slipped, as he concentrated on shorter works for smaller ensembles in the 1930s and 1940s. In private, however, much effort was made by the composer to write operatic works. Still today, his five operas are only known from the composer's hand-written manuscripts.
Works
Early period (–1919)
Violin Sonata in F sharp minor
String Quartet in G minor op. 10
Piano concerto op. 6
Poème for cello and orchestra op. 7
Symphonic Ballade op. 9
Symphony in G Minor op. 13
Reaching maturity (1919–1920s)
Joutsenet op. 15 ('The Swans'/'Les Cygnes')
Piano Quintet in C sharp minor, op. 16
Nocturne op. 17
Fantasy for quintet op. 19
Fantasia estatica op. 21
Four Colour poems for piano op. 22
Antigone Trilogy op. 23
Moonlight on Jupiter op. 24
Fantasia poetica op. 25
The Pyramide for mixed choir and orchestra op. 27
The Avenue for soprano and orchestra op. 29
Back to traditional forms (1930s–40s)
Suite Summer Scenes from Häme
Forest Idylls
Scherzo Felix domestica
Legend for violin and orchestra
Double concerto for violin, cello and orchestra
The Maids on the Headlands
Idyll
Notturno for violin and orchestra
Serenata for violin and orchestra
Fantasy for cello, harp and orchestra
Stage works
5 Operas:
Jeftan tytär (The Daughter of Jephtha), op. 30 (1929)
