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Understanding the music of Kaija Saariaho, rock-club audience profiles, and a government minister’s alleged contempt for high culture. The ‘arts elite’ is once again a topic for debate, but the coordinates have shifted, just as in the world outside the arts.

"But it is the orchestral song Ekho (1922) which takes the biscuit here: it’s a masterpiece, pure and simple, sounding something like Sibelius’ Luonnotar transported into some phantasmagorical corner of the imagination. Merikanto’s control of colour is masterly, and the protomodernist angularity does not preclude genuine feeling – underlined by Anu Komsi’s thrilling account of the solo line.

Finland’s national public service broadcasting company YLE has gone through some major changes lately. The new tax might be argued about, but at the same time the company receives kudos for promoting Finnish music abroad.

The 1930s was a time of nationalism, politics and ideology in Finnish music. Yet the period was one of such pluralism that no unified and unifying zeitgeist can be identified; instead, the parallel existence of various ideological and aesthetic trends caused even individuals to contradict themselves.

"Never before has Leiviskä’s music been published as a complete CD. This is hardly surprising. She had to work in a world that at the time was (and still is) dominated by men..."

"Fantasiatango 2 is like a never-ending road movie, where the surrounding sceneries change quickly and everything is characterised by enthusiasm and a free atmosphere."

"Rubidium is a collaboration between the Tampere-based Black Motor trio and trumpeter Verneri Pohjola, and could be described as Finnish music in the classic sense. The rough soundscape on this album merges with soft melodies creating jazz that is at once barren and tender – just like the northern nature and mindscape."

"Korpijaakko is clearly at home with the musical possibilities of the guitar with the solo guitar sonata Kimberley (2006), a standout as one of the most remarkable works of recent years for solo guitar composed in Finland."

"It is easy to write about Sin Cos Tan as a kind of extension of Villa Nah, because of the analogue synths, drum machines and Paalosmaa’s voice drowning in melodrama. The truth is not as simple. The music is slippery pop that moves with mercurial flexibility, which makes it a kindred spirit to the nightly urban romance of The Chromatics."