Soon after Finnish
Independence was won, Toivo Kuula was
murdered by a drunken soldier. The brightest
new hope of Finnish music was silenced
at the age of only thirty four. Though
his output was small, it was original:
most of it is in current Finnish repertoire
though tracking recordings down is no
easy task, as it is spread over many
different releases. Thus it is a delight
to find sixteen songs together here
alongside a less known cycle by Leevi
Madetoja, Kuula’s contemporary.
When the youthful Madetoja
first set eyes on Kuula, he was impressed
by his "air of self-confidence,
of triumph about him that obviously
reflected a fast-flowing emotional undercurrent
- everything about him seemed to say:
here is a man who knows what he wants
and who has confidence in his own powers!".
Kuula’s views on music were liberal
and unconventional, and he impressed
the leading musicians of his time –
Jean Sibelius took him on as one of
his few pupils. Madetoja too would later
be taught by Sibelius and also create
the rich vein that is Finnish music.
Fittingly, this recording was made in
Järvenpää, where Sibelius
lived: Kuula and Madetoja would have
known the area, nestled in woods, fronted
by lakes.
This recording does
not come with a booklet or text, but
think of this as a challenge, not a
disadvantage. It’s so easy to assume
that reading text equates with understanding
what’s going on musically and emotionally.
One of the reasons I got into Finnish
music in the first place was because
the unusual language and phrasing meant
getting back to basics. It is like having
a mental workout, keeping fit on a musical
basis. It helps to penetrate the songs
on a unique level: even before texts
bring out the full meaning. In any case,
many songs on this set are available
online, though not in translation, on
the Lieder and Song Texts Page (www.recmusic.org/lieder).
Moreover, the Finnish language is intrinsically
beautiful and melodic, and should be
savoured for itself. Who could but not
luxuriate in lines like:-
"Kaiu, kaiu. Lauluni,
Kaiu korkealle,
Aamu koittaa, aalto kä jo
Rannan radian alle".
(Softly now my morning
song soars above the shallows, Day is
dawning, waves begin to break beneath
the sallows) How drab the English sounds
in comparison!
In any case, once you
have discovered Finnish song, you could
end up buying many other excellent recordings
– Isokoski, Mattila, Talvela, Hynninen,
Salminen, Suovanen just to name a few.
Kirsi Tiihonen, the soprano on this
recording is fine and warmly enjoyable,
but for true exquisiteness, some of
the above are worth listening to.
The early years of
the twentieth century were a quantum
leap of creativity in Finland. In part
it was based on knowledge of ancient
traditions, such as the epic poem the
Kalevala, on folk music, and the sense
of a unique national heritage. Yet it
also grew in an awareness of modern
trends in the rest of Europe – romanticism,
modernity, individualism. Hence young
men like Kuula and Madetoja could access
a deep vein of nostalgia for a lost
past, while writing music that reflected
cosmopolitan European trends in contemporary
Vienna or France. Their music evokes
a deep love of the natural world and
the passing of time, of things eternal
and of change: deeply romantic but without
maudlin sentimentality or retrogression.
They set the poems of contemporary poets,
not just those of the past, and many
of these, too, wrote in the European
mainstream of the time. For example,
Eino Leino (1887-1926), a free thinker
and believer in free love, who lived
a bohemian life in Rome with another
equally wild spirit, the poetess L.
Onerva – who was later to marry Madetoja.
Kuula wrote chamber music and, memorably
for choir, a great Finnish phenomenon,
but was particularly drawn to song during
his marriage to the soprano, Alma Silvantionen,
with whom he toured Europe..
This fascinating conjunction
of nostalgia and forward-thinking provides
us with some beautifully evocative mood
music. Autumn Moods, pictures
the coming of winter – long and hard
in Finland – is based on a Leino poem.
The poet spies a small flower by the
roadside, which he protects by burying
it under snow, like the memory of a
lost love which must not wither. "Long
gazed I into the Fire" was
an early student work of Kuula’s. The
composer Armas Järnefelt, Sibelius’s
brother-in-law, and Head of the Music
Academy, was seen playing it admiringly.
"This Kuula", he said "is
some fellow!" How beautifully the
piano evokes the dying embers of a fire
and the poets increasing anxiety as
he "sees" a maiden in the
flames. The title alone of "Summer
Night in the churchyard" to
a poem by another contemporary, Vieko
Koskanniemi, evokes the romantic mystery
in the song. The same poet’s Epilogi
refers to life sleeping hidden "in
the womb of night" – the delicate
piano setting expresses implicitly more
than the poem alone can say. "Ice
Flowers", another Koskanniemi
poem is a challenge for a good soprano
– its exoticism is so highly perfumed
that "the flower without any
fragrance" is created by music
alone. "Old Autumn Song"
is underpinned by such a tender, gentle
piano that the theme of seasons changing
and perennial hope can be vividly imagined.
"Sailing in the Moonlight"
exquisitely evokes twinkling stars,
and the rippling of waters lit by moonbeams
– and then the voice comes in with rhythm,
and voice and piano continue together
in a surprisingly impressionist manner
that makes one wonder what Kuula might
have achieved had fate not intervened.
Leevi Madetoja may
seem to get short shrift here, with
only six songs, but he too is a composer
who understood and composed much art
song. Because he lived so much longer
than poor Kuula, he was able to develop
more expansively, writing opera and
symphonic works. Like Kuula, he came
from a humble rural background which
he celebrated in his opera The Ostrobothnians,
and later the Kalevala-inspired Juha.
He was deeply immersed in the folk genre,
and uniquely among composers, was a
virtuoso on the traditional string instrument
the kantele. Nonetheless, his music
reflects the European mainstream: he
was deeply influenced by Debussy. Here
we have the "Autumn Song Cycle"
to poems by his wife L. Onerva, the
progressive poet, set by many different
composers. The deep currents in the
piano part set off the free-flowing
voice part, creating a mysterious, intriguing
whole. Madetoja’s music is quite distinctive
– darker than Kuula’s but striking and
strong. The songs in this cycle develop
as a unit, musically, but the third
song "You thought I was watching
you" is in a class of its own,
ravishing, sensual and exotic, yet also
modern sounding. Madetoja has been honoured
by Ondine Records, who are issuing his
complete works for male and female voice,
accompanied by Gustav Djupsjöbacka,
the writer, pianist and song specialist.
This present recording
is very worthwhile, both for those new
to Finnish song and to those already
exploring it. Originally it was to be
issued at a budget price by Naxos but
this issue is on the slightly more expensive
Marco Polo affiliate. One hopes that
more Finnish song might be on the way,
and other music by Finnish composers.
Anne Ozorio
Kirsi Tiihonen, (soprano), Satu Salminen (piano).