Guitar - Ismo Eskelinen
Viola - Jussi Tuhkanen
Cello - Petja Kainulainen

My variation of Beethoven's renowned Grosse Fuge Op. 133 focuses on a highly memorable and intense element found within the piece, namely: trills.
The variation draws inspiration from Beethoven's opening pitch classes to evoke
shifting colors within a calm scenery.
Through expansion and experimentation, I've tried to create
a juxtaposition of meditative chordal moments coupled together with a varied set of fluttering textures.

Thrilling Meditations [Live in Järvenpää church 27.07.2021]

The main theme from Emilia Hernesniemi's documentary Hei Hei Tornio.

Directed by Emilias Herenesniemi
Piano by Salli Rautiainen
Score mixed by Julius Johansson
Music supervision by Saku Anttila
Composition by Rolf Gustavson

Recorded in Kallio Kuninkala in January 2021

Hei hei Tornio [Main Theme]

The opening track from the short film Invidia(Director, Anton Baer).

Score mixer - Julius Johansson
Music supervision - Saku Anttila
Cellist - Johannes Elfving
Composer - Rolf Gustavson

Invidia Main Theme

Composed by Patrik Mantere and Rolf Gustavson
Arranged and produced by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Cover art photo by Patrik Mantere
Cover art design by Rolf Gustavson

Released on Jan 3rd, 2022

Crevasse (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Crevasse

Crevasse Solo Piano Version (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Lydian Beauty (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Composed by Patrik Mantere and Rolf Gustavson
Arranged and produced by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Cover art photo by Patrik Mantere
Cover art design by Rolf Gustavson

Released on Jan 3rd, 2022

"As the arranger of this song, I experienced a radiating sense of serene beauty in Patrik's melodies which resonated with me on a very personal level. I endeavored to capture some of the beauty in his music with this arrangement dedicated to all the friendships I've had in my life. To all, wherever you are, please know I appreciate you deeply." -Rolf Gustavson 02.01.2022 Veckjärvi, Porvoo

Lydian Beauty (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Performed by Helsinki Chamber Orchestra 
Conducted by James S. Kahane
Recorded by Yle / Antti Snellman
Performed on 14 December 2021 at Sonore Hall, Music Centre, Helsinki, Finland

"It all started with dreams of colours...

The through-thread of Dream Painting is the concept of stillness in motion. Even though at the surface the texture might be filled with movement, rapid scales, and fast repetitions, the underlying currents, especially with regards to harmony, are often slow-paced and meditative.
The piece is essentially about painting one's imagination - with textures and colours, shapes and sonorities while pursuing a dream-like freedom that embraces the pure joy of making music.

...and it all ended with the colours of dreams."

Dream Painting (Live At Sonore)

Score available: https://rolfgustavson.com/s/Clouds-Over-Baden-Full-Score.pdf

Clouds Over Baden was written to honor the beautiful scenery of Baden, Austria. 

Recorded live in the Festsaal of Casino Baden on the 22nd of August 2022 during the Hollywood Music Workshop Summer Academy. 

Orchestra – HMW Symphony
Concertmaster – Dimitrie Leivici

Music composed and conducted by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed and mastered by Tuomas Nikkinen

Clouds Over Baden

Deadlock (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Released on April 6th, 2023

Music by Patrik Mantere and Rolf Gustavson
Arranged and produced by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed, mastered, and co-produced by Tuomas Nikkinen

Strings recorded by
FAME's Studio Orchestra
Conducted by Oleg Kondratenko

Deadlock (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Devotion (feat. Patrik Mantere) was released on January 30th, 2023

Music by Patrik Mantere and Rolf Gustavson
Arranged and produced by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed and mastered by Tuomas Nikkinen

Strings recorded by FAME's Studio Quintet on November 17th, 2023.

Violin 1 - Anna Kondratenko
Violin 2 - Bojan Ilkoski
Viola - Bojan Taleski
Violoncello - Pavle Savic
Contrabass -  Aleksandar Pop - Hristov

Score and parts available upon inquiry through: 
rolfgustavson@gmail.com

Thank you for taking the time to listen to our music.

Devotion (feat. Patrik Mantere)

Lift Up

Music composed by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Cover art by Osato-kun

Hello this is an original theme that I composed as a tribute to the upcoming film “Kung Fu Panda 3”. I really enjoy the music and the films so I thought I’d give it ago. 

Hope you like it! Please share and subscribe! 
 I would be honoured in case YOU would like to use my piece in a video of yours, but before you do please contact me by commenting.  PS. Thank you Osato-kun for this amazing art, I am truly grateful.

Kung Fu Panda - Hans Zimmer & John Powell Tribute Theme

This a funny little slapstick comedy piece I composed in early 2016. Full of colour and constantly changing characters. 
Mixed by Emil Kauppi!

Road To The Village (Comedy Theme)

This is an original tribute theme to composer Henry Jackman who composed the great and colourful theme for the movie Wreck-It Ralph. This is not a new piece of mine but you could call this a "re-release". Have a happy 45 seconds listening to the piece. Please spread the music by reposting or message me if you want me to check out your music!
Thank you Emil Kauppi!

Retro - Wreck-It Ralph Tribute Theme (Original)

This is an original tribute piece filled with colours and lush orchestrations. Feel free to share it!
Cover art by Shinirvana http://yakusokudayo.deviantart.com
Thank you Emil Kauppi for the mixing!

Finally Flying -  [How To Train Your Dragon Tribute Theme]

This is an orchestral piece composed between January-August 2016. At the structural core of Harmonium Laboratorium lies a progression of pre-generated harmonies. The harmonies create the foundation of the piece upon which melodic material and textural content is composed and figurated. Harmonium Laboratorium can be seen as a big prolongation of a few tonal-areas (the pre-generated harmonies), the word "laboratorium" refers to the researching nature of this piece. 
*In some cases I've taken "artistic-freedoms" from this "strutural coherence" in order to keep the total musical content as interesting as possible.
**This piece is yet to be performed, yet to be published.

Harmonium Laboratorium (NotePerformer-version)

This is a piece composed in 2014 to a text by my brother Mikael Gustavson. The lyrical melody is contrasted and developed in the accompaniment parts. The trio aims at creating a foggy and mystical atmosphere in order to reflect the feelings of the text.

Recorded at Parolannummi, Hattula in Septemer 2015.

Vocals by Katariina Holma
Piano by Johan Sten
Flute by Matias Haapalehto

Music by Rolf Gustavson
Lyrics by Mikael Gustavson

Mikaelin Todistus

Live performance of Game On Theme conducted by music captain Tero Haikala at Verkatehdas, Hämeenlinna 17.8.2015.
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Electronic sound effects by Aleksi Kiiskinen
Cover photo by media team of Conscript Band Finland 2015
Performing orchestra The Conscript Band of the Finnish Defence Forces
Composed by Rolf Gustavson


Game On Theme-The Conscript Band Finland(Live)

This is the complete soundtrack for the Indiefilm "Skärselden". Music composed between august-october 2014.
The music composed to enhance the fearsome nature of the film. In order to do so the music has to be brutal and unsettling to it's nature, filled with metallic pads and dissonant soundscapes. Still a few emotional themes keep appearing throughout the score, they're role is to reflect the hopeless mindset of the characters.

Skärselden

Du är Redan Död

Goodbye Cosmos is a colourful and exciting musical journey into the vastness of our universe. 
Please listen, enjoy and comment!
Stunning artwork by Juuso HD
Awesome mix and co-producing by Emil Kauppi
Mastered by Aleksi Kiiskinen

This piece is a musical tribute to all life on earth and to the transcendental feeling a human experiences while listening to their favorite music. The feeling resembles that of flying somewhere above the clouds, like experiencing another dimension. Goodbye Cosmos is an “electronica-orchestral”-piece filled with shimmering synths, modal harmony, colourful textures and epic orchestral fanfares.

Goodbye Cosmos

Race is an energetic and fast piece for chamber quintet. The name suggests the pieces competitive nature, as the players are given lots of solistic passages. The variety of instruments gives the piece lots of constantly varying timbral characters, which are connected by the presence of same motivic material.

The idea of composing the piece arise already in 2014 when I wanted to compose a fun piece, that had in it's core lots of flashy musical gestures. The piece was copleted in December 2015, published by the Dutch company Edition Matchingarts in October 2016 and premiered in May 2017.

This is a live recording from Suomenlinnan Church. The concert was organized by Korvat Auki/Ears Open.

Musicians:

Matti Laine-Flute
Vivian Neff-Clarinet
Tuomas Siddall-Percussion
Elsi Goesch-Violin
Levon Babayans-Violoncello

Race (Live from Suomenlinna)

A Passing Perpetuum is an ethereal fantasy piece for solo clarinet & soundtrack. 

Beautiful clarinet part by Mikko Raasakka
 Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Mastered by Aleksi Kiiskinen
Cover art by Rasmus Rask

This piece is all about impression and fantasy. The listener is free to imagine whatever worlds or horizons that they see with their mind’s eye. However, in mine, I imagined a forever-moving sound event, that has always sounded and will always sound. Still, the sound event is only audible when the piece is performed. With this thought I wanted to juxtapose the feeling of something eternal, yet momentary.

Score available!

A Passing Perpetuum - Single

A Passing Perpetuum

Men of the Sea is a sailor-fantasy for choir, band and orchestra. Originally composed as the opening number of a mini-musical that premiered in 2014, the piece embarks the journey of a sailor-crew who sets sail to find the "hidden treasures of the east".

Music by Rolf Gustavson
Lyrics by Rasmus Rask and Rolf Gustavson
Beautiful cover art by Gidi Karlsson
Produced and mixed by Emil Kauppi
Mastered by Aleksi Kiiskinen

Thank you to the great many of wonderful people who helped me finalize this project:

Choir: Mika-Rainer Gustavson, Kalle Mattila, Touko Niemi, Axel Gustavson, Juha Koskelainen, Emil Kauppi, Rasmus Rask and Rolf Gustavson
Accordion by Robert Rantalainen
Drum design by Axel Gustavson

"We are but men of the sea
We sail for the lands of the east

And we sail and we work
And we eat and we drink
Cause we are but men of the sea

We travelled far from barren lands
To search for the treasure beyond
From the sea that gave life to us all

We are but men of the sea
We sail for the lands of the east

No danger can best us
No waves are too high
Cause we are but men of the sea

We're sent by the king on this noble quest
To take back the glory of yore
So the gods will shine on us once more 

Can’t they hear how we answer the call
Head straight out and leave from this shore
to the sea where men like us belong"

Men of the Sea - Single

Men of the Sea

Recorded in Helsinki, November 2017.

Horn-Mari Tirkkonen
Oboe-Hilla Mäkinen
Violoncello-Antto Tunkkari


Orionzon (A Cosmic Call Unanswered) is a fantasy trio for oboe, horn and violoncello. Orionzon’s musical essence lies in the opening signal, the cosmic call performed by the horn. My aim has been to create a clearly structured, colourful piece that uses material derived from the first three bars of the piece.
I wanted to restrict myself to a few musical concepts in order to give the piece a coherent overall sound while challenging myself technically. The idea of using quartal harmony as my main harmonic language originated from my interest in experimenting with the sonic qualities of the perfect fifth and the parallel motion from a fifth to another.

There is a certain programmatic aspect to this piece. One could say that Orionzon is an “epic description of a static event” (the recurring cosmic call). The event itself is multifaceted, since the unanswered cosmic call can suggest many kinds of di erent forms of communication: it can be a quite literal one where an alien civilisation is trying to communicate with us here on earth or it can be a call more symbolic in character. For me the symbolic cosmic call is the “force” that calls me to compose music like this. It is something that I feel quite literally but it is still something that I cannot express in words. “To answer the call”, in my case, means to compose. It is quite ironic that this piece, describing the event of an unanswered call is itself an answer to this call.

Music to me is a whole cosmos of ideas and opportunities, with emotions and impressions as the driving forces. This is not to say that a composer would not need technique and training to compose coherent yet interesting pieces. Still I feel that a clear source of inspiration and a strong connection with emotions and imagination are essential for me as a composer.This piece represents a combination of both structurally controlled compositional techniques and imaginative programmatic ideas which I have aimed at bringing together in a way most natural for me.

Orionzon (A Cosmic Call Unanswered)

Here's a solo violoncello piece I composed during spring of 2017. Music for Violoncello was recorded by my dear friend Levon Babayans at St. Matthew´s Church in Itäkeskus, Helsinki.

Music for Violoncello

This a track I composed in May 2017. Originally composed for a short film, but now released as a stand-alone piece for Soundcloud.

Corruption

Clouds of Ice is an ethereal and meditative piece for harp and soundtrack. The musical material used in the piece is restricted to a few distinctive sonorities and repeating motives. As the piece goes on, the rather static character of the music starts evolving and intensifying (one could even say modulating) towards a big climax.

The name ‘Clouds of Ice’ refers to the simultaneous coexistence of quite contrasting musical elements. With this I’m referring to the floating, cloud-like features of the soundtrack part which are juxtaposed with the more percussive sound of the harp. Moreover the word “ice” refers to the subtle dissonances present throughout the piece, while the word “clouds” refers to the dreamy aspects of the music in general.

Harp by Katri Tikka
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Mastered by Aleksi Kiiskinen
Cover art by Rasmus Rask

Clouds of Ice was premiered by Katri Tikka 14th of April 2018 at Music Centre, Helsinki.

Clouds of Ice -single

Clouds of Ice

This is the original score from the 2019 game Dingle's Dangle!

Check out my awesome team of professionals:
Music composed by Rolf Gustavson
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Mastered by Aleksi Kiiskinen
Additional synth programming by Pekka Koivisto
Cover art by Markus Lindstedt

Title Theme

Level Theme from Dingle's Dangle

Music from the game VolleyDogs which was made by a 4 membered theme during the DogJam held by Unicorn Pirates Studio 1.3-3.3.2019!

Enjoy! Dogs are awesome!

VolleyDogs Theme (DogJam at Unicorn Pirates Studio)

This is a piece I composed on the morning of the 2nd of April 2019. The inspiration is my dog and he's funny behaviour and character! 
Mango is a dog with great self-esteem and if he could choose he'd be called a captain so that's my reasoning! Score available on request!

Captain Mango's Fanfare

Music from the upcoming party game Don't Die!

Don't Die Gameplay

Menu Music (Airships 0220)

Battle music from the game "Airships 0220".

Battle Music (Airships 0220)

Here's a cool and fun tune from the party game  !Don't Die. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think :)

Music composed my Rolf Gustavson
Mixed by Emil Kauppi
Mastered by Aleksi Kiiskinen

Don't Die Theme

Molnen Simma recorded at Musiikkitalo May 2019. Lyrics by Rabbe Enckell.

Soprano: Aurora Marthens
Piano: Mariola Aniolek

Molnen Simma

ROLF GUSTAVSON is an orchestrator and composer based in Helsinki, Finland, who holds a master's degree in composition from the Sibelius Academy. He's a versatile artist best known for his work as a professional film music orchestrator.

He started his musical journey at the age of 11, playing Green Day-influenced punk rock which steadily evolved into composition lessons and academic studies with a focus on classical music.

Even though he's majoring in classical composition, Rolf has gained more interest as a film music orchestrator and arranger. On top of working with all major orchestras in Finland, he has regularly recorded with remote orchestras in Budapest and Prague while working for composers based in both Europe, the UK and North America.

He considers his Bedlington Terrier 'Mango' his best friend in the whole world.

Popular tracks by Rolf Gustavson