Two Mythical Scenes for orchestra was completed in 1956 when Sallinen was Aarre Merikanto’s composition student. The work received its first performance only after a good deal of pressure from Prof. Merikanto’s side, and was finally premiered in a concert by the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jussi Jalas. Study score 55011-610-8, € 22,50
Aulis Sallinen (b. 1935) was still seeking to establish a style of his own in his early instrumental works. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in the late 1950s, first with Aarre Merikanto (reknown for his Neoclassical style) and then with Joonas Kokkonen (who was transitioning from Neoclassicism to dodecaphony). Twelve-tone music had won fairly…
The texts of Alex Freeman’s Calle sin nombre (2019) are drawn from quotations of families seeking asylum who are victims of the policies of family separation aggressively and abruptly enacted by the administration of President Donald Trump. These desperate words tread with bare feet across shards of fragmented lines from Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus….
Minna von Knorring (1846–1918) was a fascinating character in the musical scene of Helsinki. She had no formal music education but she composed and published several songs which became part of Aino Ackté’s and Jenny Spennert’s (the celebrated Finnish singers of that era) repertoire. Har du en vän (Jos ystävä sull’ on) 55016-463-5, € 4,90…
Helvi Leiviskä (1902–1982) is the first distinct Finnish female composer who has written large-scale orchestral works but also several songs such as these.Nouse, ole kirkas 55016-459-8, € 5,90 Buy nowRunolintuni Op. 34/1, 55016-457-4, € 4,90 Buy now
A suite of prelude and three baroque style dances, written in 1928 by Helvi Leiviskä (1902-1982), the first distinct Finnish female composer. 55011-607-8, € 12,50
Six small charming piano compositions for children written in 1929 by Helvi Leiviskä (1902-1982), the first distinct Finnish female composer. 55011-606-1, € 9,90
Ann-Elise Hannikainen (1946–2012), the great-granddaughter of P.J. Hannikainen, lived a cosmopolitan life as her father was working as diplomat. She studied piano playing in Warsaw and composing in Madrid with Ernesto Halffter Ercriche, a student of Manuel de Falla. Hannikainen wrote the two piano pieces Pensamientos (1974) and Toccata-fantasia (1975) in El Escorial. The first…
Ann-Elise Hannikainen (1946–2012), the great-granddaughter of P.J. Hannikainen, lived a cosmopolitan life as her father was working as diplomat. She studied piano playing in Warsaw and composing in Madrid with Ernesto Halffter Ercriche, a student of Manuel de Falla. Cháchara (1980) is her first composition for solo instrument and piano, and it was also Hannikainen’s…
Ida Moberg (1859–1947) was the first widely educated Finnish female composer. Born in Helsinki, she grew up in a musical family and studied singing and piano at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Later she also studied in Helsinki, Dresden, Berlin and Hellerau. Stillhet (Silence), a 2,5-minute lullaby for string orchestra is extracted from her unfinished opera…
