Juha

Back in 2014 an album arrived for review from Finnish composer, arranger and keyboard player Juha Kujanpää, and, as with many things unexpected, it turned out to be a rather pleasant surprise. This agreeable trend carries on with Niin Kauas Kuin Siivet Kantaa as Juha continues his exploration into a fertile, melodically rich mix of ethnic folk, with hints of classical music and healthy smatterings of progressive rock.

The 1920s was an exceptionally rich period in Finnish music history: Sibelius composed his last two symphonies and Tapiola, Leevi Madetoja released his opera The Ostrobothnians and two symphonies, Uuno Klami produced orchestral suites, Yrjo Kilpinen continued to publish internationally-acclaimed Lieder collections, and Aarre Merikanto (1893-1958) wrote his opera Juha. The true worth and inner essentialness of Merikanto's ideas has only been recognized after the man's death. What was then seen as eccentricity or even a lack of craftsmanship turns out in fact to have been and honest and well-founded search for the new.Merikanto spent the first two years of the 1920s composing Juha. The libretto was drafted by Aino Ackte, the leading Finnish operatic diva. Juha is a classic triangle drama featuring the elderly husband Juha, his young wife Marja, and the seducer Shemeikka. The depth of the tragedy is made still greater by the fact that of the three, the one driven to suicide is Juha, whose only sins appear to be those of lack of resolution and a certain simplicity. To be fair, Juha does give Shemeikka a bit of pasting, but he does not kill him, because he suddenly recognizes that after the betrayal that he has encountered "there is nothing left in life anymore".Merikanto's opera was never performed during the composer's lifetime. However, the opera was performed at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 1970 and 1971, and is now recognized as one of the most important and influential Finnish operas.

Finnish composer, arranger and keyboard player Juha Kujanpää working in the area between jazz, rock, world and theatre has announced the release of his new instrumental album Old Ways, New Ways. The album was recorded between 2019-22, and will be released via Kuu Records on 9 November 2022.

The fresh new release from Alba Records presents three pieces by the Finnish composer Juha Leinonen performed by world-class artists. The booklet addresses the link between different kinds of art forms as it contains a beautiful painting Landscape in a Landscape (2006) by a fellow Finn, Kuutti Lavonen. The German early romantics thought that because music, painting and poetry at their best constitute a higher poetic tongue, they cannot be described using the inadequate conceptual repertoire of normal language. Only an artwork can explain another artwork. The most perfect musical composition of all is the most perfect description of the most magnificent painted masterpiece.