Aulis Sallinen’s “Winter Was Hard”: Ode to a Bleak Finnish Landscape
Humor, stoicism, and Scandinavian winter gloom emerge in the brief song, Winter Was Hard, Op. 20 (Vintern var Hård) by Finnish composer Aulis Sallinen (b. 1935). Composed in 1969, the song became the title track of a 1988 album by the Kronos Quartet. Their version, featuring the San Francisco Girls Chorus, includes a pump organ: Here is another version featuring the Tapiola Choir: A translation of the text: There wasn’t much for the ducks. …