Those who are familiar with the multi-national recording project The Samurai Of Prog, are hopefully also aware of this related project, which is more oriented to Folk and Old Music elements, albeit always staying within modernly produced progressive rock. Liber de Dictis is the follower to the warmly received debut album The Knight and the Ghost (2020). The core line-up has changed for the main keyboards: Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak) has been replaced by Alessandro di Benedetti, who contributed on one track on the debut. As always, the guest musicians are very numerous, but unlike with TSOP where the various collaborators usually also write the music, The Guildmaster is more self-contained in this matter, Rafael Pacha being the most prolific composer. This 68-minute album is loosely conceptual: each track draws inspiration from folkloristic sayings.

Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, (Sami language Áillohaš, also kown as "Ailu") (March 23 1943 - November 26 2001) was a Saami writer, musician and artist of Finnish citizenship born in Enontekiö in the Finnish part of Lapland. Significant portions of his life he lived in Käsivarsi, close to the border to Sweden, and also in Skibotn in Norway. It is sometimes said that Valkeapää is the Sami person who is most well known internationally. Valkeapää was born in a family of the traditional trade of herding reindeer, but was trained as a school teacher. The traditional sami singing yoik was important in his art, in music as well as in painting and in writing. The yoik also was the first genre he got recognised in. During the 1960s, young Sami searched for their cultural roots and Valkeapää was one of the most prominent persons as a yoiker…

Alba Records julkaisee Ilari Laakson sävellyksiä pianolle ja sopraanolle pianisti Anna Laakson ja sopraano Pia Freundin tulkitsemina. Julkaisun sävellykset tutkivat perheen, katoavuuden sekä kielen merkityksiä. “Runous on minulle läheisin kirjallisuuden laji. Ajatusten ja tunnetilojen kiteyttäminen muutamiin sanoihin ja sanaryhmiin on taito sui generis.”, Ilari Laakso toteaa.

Mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland is famous for her strong stage presence and musical integrity. Gramophone Magazine writes about her: The mezzo-soprano is quite outstanding: strong, firm, sensitive in modulations, imaginative in her treatment of words, with a voice pure in quality, wide in range and unfalteringly true in intonation.

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.

Featuring 45 minutes of material that’s previously completely unreleased, this box set contains everything Finnforest recorded in the studio. It has the three rare studio albums originally released on Love Records in 1975, 1976 and 1979, plus all non-album tracks from singles and compilations. But we didn’t stop there: we dug through the band’s archives of tape reels and found some completely unreleased music. These sessions are compiled on the fifth album: first is the band’s debut studio session from 1973 and the flipside has four songs the band managed to finish during studio sessions for a planned fourth album in 1980 before splitting up…

This album includes a repertoire of Nordic composers influenced by French impressionism and Debussy’s music in particular. In Finland, both Toivo Kuula and Leevi Madetoja are known for taking influence from impressionism. After spending extensive time at the National Library in Oslo I decided to add songs by Alf Hurumin and with the helpful advice from the principal of the Norwegian State Academy of Music, Astrid Kvalbein, Pauline Hall. Juho Alakärppä brought in Gösta Nystrom`s Sånger vid havet. This work was originally written for Finnish soprano Aulikki Rautava.

In a follow-up to her acclaimed album of Mahler songs, Christiane Karg takes us on a Christmas tour, in the select company of fellow music-makers. Revisiting holiday memories through the eyes of a child, but with the benefit of her superb artistry as a lieder specialist, the German soprano shines a light on some enchanting rarities of German and French repertoire, along with examples of Spanish, Basque, and Scandinavian traditions… A treasure trove of hidden gems!

The final volume of Seitakuoro’s Lappish trilogy is, like the two previous CDs – Arktisiä näkyjä (Arctic Scenes, 2011) and Kuvia pohjoisesta (Visions of the North, 2015) – a continuation of the choir’s mission to make world premiere recordings of works composed specially for the choir. But whereas the earlier discs drew on the wealth of material accumulated over the decades in the Seitakuoro archives, the songs on this disc were all composed for a composition competition organised by the choir in 2019 and are thus extremely new.

The ancient, shamanistic, musical traditions of the Samis of northern Scandanavia, in what was once known as Lapland, are given a modern twist by vocalist and drummer Mari Boine (Persen). Although her highly rhythmic songs are rooted in the wordless, yodeling-like, vocal style of yoik (or joik), Boine's arrangements incorporate influences of jazz, rock and other ethnic elements.

Riemuitkaamme! is an imaginative and unconventional selection of choral music associated with Christmas as it is celebrated in Finland. Several of the pieces are by Finnish composers - Sibelius, Rautavaara and Madetoja, to name a few - while others have become part of the Christmas traditions of the country despite their international background. Among these Berlioz The Shepherds Farewell and Tchaikovskys Christ, when a Child are quite late additions compared to the medieval hymns Puernatusin Bethlehem, Ecce novum gaudium and Angelus emittitur. All three of these were included in the collection Piae cantiones from 1582, the oldest Finnish music publication. Here, they are performed in settings by various composers from different countries and eras forming a kind of soundtrack of Christmases past and present, distant and close. Contemporary music forms an important part of the activities of the Helsinki Chamber Choir and Nils Schweckendiek, and true to form, the team includes a world premiere recording in their celebrations: Aattoilta, by the Canadian-born composer Matthew Whittall.

The Helsinki Police Orchestra releases a wonderful Christmas album! The orchestra conducted by Sami Ruusuvuori with the brilliant soloists Helena Juntunen and Mika Pohjonen create a holiday atmosphere with their beautiful versions of both Finnish traditional Yuletide songs and internationally known pieces. The Helsinki Police Symphonic Band is a professional symphonic band comprising 43 musicians. The band has been performing for over 70 years. It represents the Finnish Police through music in different events nationally and internationally and is especially known for its versatility. In addition to wind compositions, the band’s repertoire includes folk music, jazz, rock, pop and children’s music.

The rules of the game were clear when the credits for the soundtrack of Aki Kaurismäki's debut film Crime and Punishment gave the names Franz Schubert, Dmitri Shostakovich, Olavi Virta, the Renegades, Harri Marstio and Billie Holiday. Dostoevskian to say the least! Added to these as Kaurismaki’s career progressed were Tchaikovsky (the Pathetique Symphony a dozen or so times!), Shostakovich, Chuck Berry, the great Estonian Georg Ots, rhythm & blues, Finnish rock’n’roll (Melrose, with Tokela in the vocal lead), Jussi Bjorling, and Toshitake Shinohara - the Japanese composer of a host of beautiful scores now settled permanently in Karkkila, home of Kaurismäki himself. Not all are familiar to a non-Finnish audience. Yet Finn and foreigner, familiar and unfamiliar are as such one seamless entity, their associations equally fascinating. The director himself says he grabs armfuls of discs off his shelf at home before setting off for the editing room.

The Finnish progressive rock appreciation and fan society Colossus has been making a rather good name for itself in recent years, ever since it started issuing a line of project releases back in 2000. In collaboration with the legendary French record label Musea, more than a dozen concepts have been conceived, executed and issued. The first of these projects was named Tuonen Tytär, a double CD featuring tributes to various Finnish artists from the golden age of progressive rock.