Symphony No.6 'From A New Zealand Diary'

Aulis Sallinen was born in 1935 in Salmi on the northern shore of Lake Ladoga (which the Soviet Union claimed in 1944). His early musical experience was playing the violin. Improvising (including jazz) on the piano led him towrite his first compositions as a teenager. After studying with Aarre Merikanto and Joonas Kokkonen at the Sibelius Academy, he joined the staff there. He was Administrator of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (1960-69);Secretary and member of the Board (1958-73), then Chairman (1971-73) of the Finnish Composers' Society; member of the board of TEOSTO (Finnish copyright society) from 1970-84, then Chairman from 1988-90; he also served forseveralyears on the Board of the Finnish National Opera.

Here is the Facsimile of the Sixth Symphony that was composed over 1989-1990, and commissioned and first performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.