Sallinen's striking, highly original String Quartet No. 3, Op. 19 (1966) is in the form of a theme and variations. The Swedish State Concert Board had requested from the composer a work by means of which to present his music to Swedish schoolchildren. Sallinen decided to use a well-known tune, "Peltoniemi Hintrik's Funeral March," because it is simple and because it would be familiar to most Swedish children. He presents it at the outset in a novel textural context: The melody is played by cello and violin two octaves apart, but the phrasing and bowing is different for the two instruments, resulting in an unusual feeling of distance. The variations that follow become more complicated, but the original tune is almost always discernable within the texture. Sallinen obviously felt that with the theme providing an aural point of reference, listeners—young ones included—could accept nearly any degree of dissonance, so at the piece's climax he creates an awesome sonic pile-up. In the decades since its composition, the Third Quartet has emerged as one of the composer's most frequently performed and important works.

© Joseph Stevenson, Rovi