Finland

If there is a country famous for its reservoir of extraordinary musicians and its significant composers in particular, then it's Finland, which is all the more astonishing when you consider the size of its population - Finald has 5.5 million inhabitants. The country's distinguished tradition of music-making is fundamental to this reputation for artistic excellence. Finland can be rightly called a "country of singers". Even when it comes to contemporary compositions, traditional music always plays an essencential role in the pieces, contributing to their accessibility.

As well known as the music itself is, the full background to Finlandia, the great symphonic poem composed by Finn Jean Sibelius, was unfamiliar to me until very recently. It turns out that Finlandia was originally part of a larger work that Sibelius composed in 1899 with the rather unartistic title "Press Celebrations Music". The seventh movement of that work, "Tableau 6, Suomi herää (Finland Awakes)", was later reworked into a stand-alone piece and became known as Finlandia, and this is how we have generally heard it performed since that time. It has become recognized as one of the most important national songs of Finland, but it is not the national anthem, that is Maamme ("Our Land").

From the middle of the nineteenth century there was a blossoming of nationalism within the creative arts – very notably in music – in Finland that reflected the political mood in the country. From an international perspective, the dominant stature of Sibelius can often overshadow the wide-ranging works of his peers – something that this album goes some way to redressing. Robert Kajanus was the leading figure in Finnish music before Sibelius became established. His Overtura sinfonica is a late work, from 1926, which epitomises his style. Armas Järnefelt was a friend and fellow student of Sibelius, and eventually became his brother-in-law.

Mieskuoromusiikki on ollut satavuotiaan isänmaamme kohtalonhetkissä vahvasti läsnä. Laulu-Miehet on usein ollut näiden historiallisten taitekohtien musiikin ensimmäinen esittäjä. Itsenäistymisemme kynnyksellä Jääkärien Marssi – runo salakuljetettiin värikkäiden vaiheiden saattelemana Saksasta säveltäjämestari Jean Sibeliukselle. Sibeliuksen käsissä runo sai nykyisin tuntemamme sävelasun. V.A. Koskenniemi puolestaan kirjoitti sanoituksen Jean Sibeliuksen Finlandia-hymniin. Molempien laulujen kantaesittäjä oli Laulu-Miehet.

This re-issue of early Medieval vocal music from Finland includes a unique reconstruction of 14th and 15th century Gregorian music that was performed in Finland in the memory of St. Henry, Finland’s Patron Saint. Liturgical literature dealing with St. Henry is abundant and the music in this collection consists of extracts from masses and offices to St. Henry. Liturgical legend and oral tradition provide a colorful account of the English clergyman’s mission to Finland where he was killed on January 20th, 1156.