Stories by

​Ives’s Concord Sonata often requires its performer to despatch inhuman quantities of notes at superhuman speed, but Ahonen scoops them up like a kid building sandcastles, with no loss of clarity or of dynamic or rhythmic control.

Selim Palmgren was congratulated after the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 5 (1942) by a personage no less than Sibelius himself, and listening to Alba’s new release of Palmgren’s complete piano concertos it is easy to understand why.

Outi Tarkiainen has long since learned the lessons of her chosen poets: to be true to oneself. That results in outstanding music of meticulous clarity and frequent emotional strain. It needs heartfelt and considered performances, and gets them here.

Olli Virtaperko’s music is like the missing third dimension of an abstract painting. His great sense of timbre is exemplified in this recording of concertos for unusual solo instruments.

Folk music and video game music are poles apart – or are they? Composer and sound designer Anni Tolvanen and Jimmy Träskelin, creator of the Pelimanni 8bit game, talk about the encounters between pelimanni players and the world of pixels.

“Somehow there has to be something new, and somehow the composer has to challenge himself. But employing completely new means of expression or playing around with the concept of art are not in themselves necessary for creating meaningful art.” So says composer Lauri Kilpiö, whose new piano concerto Shades of Light traces a broad arc from tradition to the present day, acknowledging both Beethoven and the aesthetics of noise.

Pietarsaari, a tiny town on the western coast of Finland, boasts a degree programme unique for Finland, allowing students to specialise in Baroque music and complete a degree while working. The Baroque programme at the Novia University of Applied Sciences has proved attractive even for experienced musicians who are keen to learn more about early music.

Led by the startling voice of Anni Elif Egecioglu, Elifantree paints from an idiosyncratic palette, spattered with jazz and electronics. This Helsinki trio celebrates its 10th anniversary with new collaborations and a forthcoming album.

Voice and space are intertwining themes in the music of composer Paola Livorsi. In her most recent work, The End of No Ending, sound moves in space, human voices resonate with Persian percussion instruments, and two singers perform the secret poetry of Afghan women and improvise on a Macedonian folk song.