after receiving his lifelong art professorship, sallinen devoted great amounts of time to composing. he has revived standard forms and harmonies, but he puts them together in contemporary ways. he has received a number of commissions from renowned ensembles and has composed eight symphonies, including one using material from a proposed ballet based on "the lord of the rings" and containing two mediaeval finnish tunes from the "piae cantiones". he has written seven operas and is well known as the composer of the title track of the kronos quartet's album "winter was hard".