Risto-Matti Marin, the pianist on this album, has premiered many Finnish contemporary works and was a co-dedicatee of Matthew Whittall's piano concerto 'Nameless Seas'.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The composers on this album, including Eero Hämeenniemi, draw strongly on a continuum of different traditions, from Palestrina and Bach to Finnish Kalevala singers and South Indian Carnatic music.
Composer Biography
Matthew Whittall, a Canadian-Finnish composer, won Finland's highest composition award, the Teosto Prize, in 2013 for his work 'Dulcissima, clara, sonans'.
Recording & Production
This album contains only premiere recordings of the works featured.
Composition History
Eero Hämeenniemi's 'Kanggul vellam' was inspired by a classical Tamil poem from a collection of Finnish translations he published.
Composition History
Eero Hämeenniemi's 'Le Trastevere Variazioni' is an homage to early Baroque master Girolamo Frescobaldi and the Roman district of Trastevere.
Compositional Technique
Juho Miettinen's Piano Sonata No. 1 'Sixth Sense' prominently features the interval of a sixth, with many themes heard in parallel sixths.
