Stepien (musicology, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice, Poland) examines five instrumental works by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara (b. 1928) that refer to angels: the orchestral overture Angels and Visitations, the double bass concerto Angel of Dusk, Playgrounds for Angels for brass ensemble, the Seventh Symphony Angel of Light, and the movement "Archangel Michael Fighting the Antichrist" from the piano suite Icons and its later orchestral arrangement in Before Icons. After some theoretical background on musical representation, angels in various religions and beliefs, other musical approaches to angels, and the composer's mystical aesthetics, Stepien analyzes the works and explores how angels are represented through instruments, musical brightness, and other techniques, and discusses the extramusical associations of common elements in compositions referring to angels in light of Siglind Bruhn's theory of musical ekphrasis, especially the associations between Rautavaara's music and Rilke's Duino Elegies and theories of Jung and Freud. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)