Tapio

Lappalainen

COMPOSER

“Tapio Lappalainen’s Ruusunnuppu – … – was the evening’s exclamation mark, thanks to its ingenious, authentically Bergman-like use of guttural sound production.”

Mats Liljeroos / Hufvudstadsbladet

“The harsh atmosphere of the end times and the proximity of death were reflected in the texture’s effects and sonorities, in its breaths and sighs.”

Hanna Laulajainen, Kaleva

"In rhythm music, partners like Lennon-McCartney and Andersson-Ulvaeus are already classics. it will be exciting to see whether Ahvenjärvi-Lappalainen will become a similar combination in art music."

Hannu Hirvelä / Kaleva

Tapio Lappalainen, composer & Music Technologist

Tapio Lappalainen is a Finnish composer and music technologist whose artistic identity is defined by the seamless integration of composition and music technology. For Lappalainen, these roles are not separate disciplines but form a unified and indivisible mode of expression. Throughout his career, working with music technology has been an essential and inseparable part of his creative practice.

Tapio Lappalainen’s work explores music technology in diverse and innovative ways, blending electronics, acoustic instruments, and experimental techniques. His compositions often transform everyday sounds into rich musical material integrated with live performance.

In the Choir composition Ruusunnuppu (Rosebud), recordings of his son’s baby babbling—captured between the ages of 7 and 20 months—are incorporated as fixed media part, merging intimately with the choral texture.

The electronic work Ice Breaker takes as its starting point the scraping sound of a icy car window, which is transformed through extensive processing.

Lappalainen’s interest in extended instrumental techniques is further developed in E-Extensions 1 for piano and live electronics. Traditional extended piano techniques, such as playing inside the instrument, are expanded through the use of live electronics. One of the core ideas of the work is to place the pianist and music technologist to play chamber music together.

Alongside his work with electronics, Lappalainen has a strong background as a guitarist, having played both acoustic and electric guitar. Music written for guitar occupies a important place in his catalogue.

FULL BIOGRAPHY

Collaboration with composer Sanna Ahvenjärvi

In addition to his own compositions, Lappalainen has also been co-composing music with his composer wife Sanna Ahvenjärvi since 2013, which is very rare in the field of classical art music. The result is music that neither would have composed on their own. Examples of their joint compositions include e.g. the works: Water, Bußetuende Zitrusseife (Text: Veronica Aschenbrenner), Jubileum, Permafrost and Whirling Energy.

The work "Water" for symphony orchestra, commissioned by the Tampere Philharmonic, was awarded the Teosto Prize 2023, one of the largest art prizes in the Nordic countries.

The hybrid instruments in Water, performed together with a percussionist and a music technologist, include the water droplet instrument, the ice cube instrument, and acoustic instruments submerged in water. Water functions in multiple roles: it acts as a source of vibration, it influences and shapes the resonance of instruments, and also functions as a vibrating body (ice).

“Water is a cohesive and vividly visual contemporary music work in which water moves through its various states, with swirling currents and rolling waves. Although water is a classic theme among composers of art music, the musical texture of Water is distinctive and imaginative. Effects such as instruments and microphones submerged in water naturally support the music written for more traditional orchestral instruments. Through artistic expression, the work brings attention to the current state of our environment.”

Risto Salminen, Toimitusjohtaja: Teosto

Anti Auvinen, Hallituksen puheenjohtaja: Teosto