Pictures from Finland
Madetoja Music High School Girls’ Choir, Soma Ensemble
Oulu Sinfonia/Rumon Gamba,
rec. 2024, Madetoja Concert Hall, Oulu, Finland
Chandos CHAN20401 [63]

This survey ofshort orchestral pieces by a variety of Finnish composers – all contemporaries of Sibelius, as well as the great man himself – gives us a useful comparative taster of their styles. Inevitably, Sibelius is the elephant in the room, despite his modest presence here, and one is compelled to wonder to what extent each lesser composer felt – or managed to avoid – his influence.

In the case of Robert Kajanus, who slightly predated Sibelius, the question is academic because his style was determined long before Sibelius’s maturity as a composer. Kajanus himself had a huge influence over the establishment of a musical culture in Finland – more in terms of being the country’s foremost conductor than in terms of leaving a particularly notable compositional legacy. His career also had a decisive impact on that of Sibelius and the two were close friends – although the relationship was, occasionally, rocky. The disc includes two of Kajanus’ orchestral pieces: a short and restrained Adagietto for strings (a long way from that of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony) and his more substantial Suomalainen Rhapsody No 2, Op.8. Stylistically, the latter falls somewhere between the sound worlds of Grieg and Svendsen – and it is Svendsen to whom it is dedicated. The main Deciso theme appears several times throughout the piece, suggesting a stoic pride, and alternates with scherzando episodes. The penultimate section of the work seems to be turning, briefly, into Alfven’s Midsommarvarka (Swedish Rhapsody No.1) before the work is brought to a brusque but optimistic close. In fact, the work dates from seventeen years before the Alfven rhapsody, which suggests that any influence just might have been the other way round. 

Selim Palmgren was born thirteen years after Sibelius and died six years before him. His Suite: Aus Finnland (subtitled Kuvia Suomesta or Pictures from Finland) gives the disc its name. It might better be titled “The Seasons in Finland” because each of its four movements depicts a season. It dates from 1904, five years after Sibelius’ First Symphony appeared. As regards influences, the first movement has a vaguely Sibelian opening and close, framing a rather nondescript middle. The “neo-baroque minuet” of the second movement presumably depicts folk dancing in summer, and it seems to be influenced more by Grieg than anybody else. It is only in the third movement: “Dance of the Falling leaves” that the delicate and pointilliste woodwind writing conjures a real suggestion of a Sibelian atmosphere – like a rather less spooky version of Sibelius’ Incidental music to Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. However, any apparent influence of that specific music is illusory because Sibelius’ composition dates from 1925. That said, of course, Palmgren could conceivably have been influenced by one or more earlier works. The final movement, a brilliant winter sleigh ride, sounds to me more like Rimsky Korsakov than anybody else.

Leevi Madetoja was of the generation after Sibelius, although he also died before him. He is represented by his brief Pastoral Suite for Orchestra, Op.34, dating from 1933, and a solemn and reverent setting of the Stabat Mater for female chorus and strings, called Marian Murhe (Mary’s Sorrow), Op.27/2. The former sounds Scandinavian (if not particularly Finnish) and is an orchestration of a suite of four of his own piano pieces. None of these is particularly interesting, although the final movement has a couple of passages that sound vaguely like Valse Triste meets Eric Coates. The female chorus in Marian Murhe sounds very young, with very pure voices – not unlike a Scandinavian version of Hungarian children’s choral music. The piece finally grows in intensity to a radiant climax, although the rest of it is not as moving as one might expect – given the subject matter – but this is not the fault of a fine performance.   

The lifespan of Väinӧ Raitiowas, in turn, encompassed by that of Madetoja – being six years shorter. Largely influenced by Scriabin, his style was probably too modern for Nordic tastes and he is little known today. In his fifty-four years he composed five operas, that remain only in manuscript, and eight substantial symphonic poems – of which one, The Swans of 1919, marked something of a stylistic breakthrough in Finnish music. This was premiered by Kajanus and was published in the composer’s lifetime. His other orchestral scores never established a place in the repertoire, although one or two of them are occasionally to be heard on programmes such as Radio 3’s Through the Night. Raitio is probably one of the most unjustly neglected composers here. He is represented by two works. Firstly, we are given the brief Idyll of 1938, a pastoral-sounding piece which starts calm, then “gathers energy like a passing gust of wind, before the opening calm returns and dusk descends”.  Secondly, there is a short orchestral Scherzo: “Felis Domestica” (Domestic Cat) from 1935. This sounds almost as if it is about to turn into Stravinsky’s Scherzo Fantastique, until castanets are introduced! There is a melancholic trio before a return to the opening music (without castanets).

Finally, the elephant himself. Sibelius is represented simply by one of the lesser numbers from the incidental music to a play by his brother-in-law, Arvid Jarnefelt: Kuolema (Death). This is the slightly anti-climactic Kirkikohtaus (Scene with cranes) – rather than the ubiquitous Valse Triste. This short and  occasionally haunting number is notable for a brief passage with shades of The Swan of Tuonela, with the cor anglais replaced by a solo cello. 

This programme provides us with what is probably a reasonably representative sample of the music of Finnish composers of the late nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth. Sibelius was a hugely significant composer but, based on the evidence provided by this disc, one might conclude that his influence on Finnish composer contemporaries was, surprisingly, somewhat limited. 

The Oulu Sinfonia is Finland’s northernmost symphony orchestra. I must admit that I was barely aware of their existence before playing this disc, but they sound highly accomplished and polished – as one might expect of an orchestra that dates from 1937 – and Rumon Gamba’s conducting is exemplary. The recording could be more transparent but it serves the music perfectly well and the balances are fine. Booklet notes are readable and comprehensive.  

I enjoyed this disc, which is useful for filling in odd gaps in the catalogue. However, for my taste, there are rather too few musical stand-out moments of originality or particular interest to make me want to dip into it again soon, so I hesitate to recommend it on that basis. But keep listening to Radio 3’s Through the Night!

Bob Stevenson

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Contents
Robert Kajanus (1856–1933)
Adagietto for string orchestra (1913)
Suomalainen Rapsodia No.2, Op.8 (1886)
Selim Palmgren (1878–1931)
Aus Finnland (Four Symphonic Pictures), Op.24 (1904)
Leevi Madetoja (1887–1947)
Suite Pastorale, Op.34 (1933)
Marian Murhe, Op.27/2 (1917)
Väinӧ Raitio (1891–1945)
Idyll for orchestra (1938)
Scherzo: “Felis Domestica” (1935)
Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
Incidental Music to Kuolema: Kurkikohtaus (Scene with Cranes), Op.44/2 (1906)