Aarre Merikanto
Concerto for Violin, Clarinet, Horn and String Sextet
Nonet · Works for Male Choir
Kuhmo Chamber Ensemble
Ulf Söderblom, conductor
The Polytech Choir
Track listing
14 tracks · 72:00Aarre Merikanto
- Concerto for Violin, Clarinet, French Horn and String Sextet (Schott Concerto) (1924) 22:35
- 1 I. Largo - Allegro 6:05
- 2 II. Largo - Vivace - Adagio 9:50
- 3 III. Allegro vivace 6:40
- Nonet 19:55
- 4 I. Adagio - Molto allegro 6:52
- 5 II. Largo 7:03
- 6 III. Allegro vivace 6:00
- Works for Male Choir 30:05
- 7 I. Let this Night Be Merry 4:00
- 8 II. The Idiot 1:36
- 9 III. Old Lemminkäinen 4:53
- 10 IV. The Swing 2:44
- 11 V. Caressing the Echo 1:56
- 12 VI. Midsummer 1:32
- 13 VII. Silence 5:10
- 14 VIII. To the Last Living Being 7:39
About this recording
This CD features works by Finnish composer Aarre Merikanto. The original LP release from 1986, the third in Ondine's history, contained only the Concerto and the Nonet, both recorded at the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival in 1984. Violinist Oleg Kagan, clarinetist Eduardo Brunner and hornist David Jolley are the soloists in the Concerto. Ulf Söderblom conducts the Kuhmo Chamber Ensemble.
The eight works for male choir, featuring the Polytech Choir under Tapani Länsiö, were recorded at the German Church in Helsinki in 1987.
Features
Booklet with liner notes in English and Finnish, and the song lyrics in the original language and in English
The artists
Ulf Söderblom
Ulf Söderblom (b. 1930 in Turku) took his degree in conducting at the Vienna Academy of Music under Hans Swarowski. A considerable part of his career was devoted to his work at the Finnish National Opera as its Conductor (1957-1973), Chief Conductor (1973-1993), Director of Planning (1968-1970), Artistic Director (1970-1973) and temporary Chief Director (1996). He was also Artistic Director of the Helsinki Philharmonic (1978-79) and the Lahti Symphony (1984-87) orchestras.
The Polytech Choir
One of Finland's finest male voice ensembles, The Polytech Choir (Polyteknikkojen Kuoro) was founded in 1900 by male students of engineering or architecture. It has successfully participated in a number of domestic and international choir competitions and continues to fulfuill a very active schedule of concert and touring activities. The PK's repertoire embraces both the traditional male voice choir music and numerous works by contemporary composers, including many commissions.
