Erikki Melartin: Traumgesicht; Marjatta; The Blue Pearl (2016)

performed by Soile Isokoski (soprano), Tuomas Lehto (cello), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Hannu Lintu (conductor)
composed by Erkki Melartin

The profusion of top-notch Finnish performing ensembles has been a contributing factor in the excavation of Finnish music beyond that of Sibelius. Erkki Melartin (1875-1937), a student not of Sibelius but of Sibelius' Viennese teacher Robert Fuchs, has benefited from this trend, with recordings of his six symphonies, songs, and other works spreading his name beyond Finland. The three orchestral pieces here don't quite seem to have been written by the same composer (and indeed, you have a German-titled work, one with a ... Read More

The profusion of top-notch Finnish performing ensembles has been a contributing factor in the excavation of Finnish music beyond that of Sibelius. Erkki Melartin (1875-1937), a student not of Sibelius but of Sibelius' Viennese teacher Robert Fuchs, has benefited from this trend, with recordings of his six symphonies, songs, and other works spreading his name beyond Finland. The three orchestral pieces here don't quite seem to have been written by the same composer (and indeed, you have a German-titled work, one with a Finnish name for a title, and a ballet suite with French movement titles), but all are highly listenable and could enliven any symphonic concert. Traumgesicht, Op. 70, was composed in 1910 and lies right between the late Romantics and their Impressionist successors, with elements of both. There is little that is Finnish about it. The soprano-and-orchestra tone poem Marjatta, Op. 79, by contrast, uses a text drawn from the Finnish epic the Kalevala , which also inspired the great... Read Less