Ekho 9

These days, Aarre Merikanto (1893–1958) is one of the best-known early 20th century modernists in Finnish classical music. In his early years, he composed in the National Romantic style, but by the time he was 23, he had developed a much more progressive style. By the beginning of the 1920s, he was writing in a modern, free-tonal musical language with a strong focus on timbral colour. Merikanto himself considered his “radical” style to be innate, but we know he was in fact inspired by Debussy and Scriabin, and especially Sibelius’ Fourth Symphony. After moving from the countryside back to Helsinki in 1928, Merikanto started actively networking with other Finnish composers, which also had an effect on his music.

Much of the richly diverse oeuvre of Albert Roussel (1869-1937) grew from his far-flung travels as a young navy officer. One of the major French composers of his time, he produced music that embraces the exotic colours of so-called Impressionism, the rigour of his training at Vincent d’Indy’s Schola Cantorum, and the questing spirit of Modernism. Containing a number of CD premieres, this wide-ranging edition features such performers as Jean Martinon, Charles Munch and Claire Croiza – all colleagues of the composer, who makes appearances as both conductor and pianist – André Cluytens, Michel Plasson and José van Dam.