Stories by

"I write music like I hear it. A composer’s voice is a blend of encounters, influences, sharing and privacy, life situations and changes in the living environment." This column is part of the series "On my music and beyond", where composers and other music makers write about their music.

"The element of surprise and freedom that improvisation offers remains to this day present in my music and in the way it is experienced."

"Pianist Risto-Matti Marin has formed a meaningful musical whole out of five works, all recorded for the first time, by four contemporary composers living in Finland."

"One can almost listen to Kaipainen's three solo accordion works as a sonata, perhaps a super-sonata in view of the sheer intensity of the music."

"The assurance of the two soloists is matched by performances of pyrotechnical brilliance from the Turku Philharmonic players under their two conductors. The recorded sound is of the usual BIS standard of excellence, and the album as a whole is a valuable addendum to the label’s ongoing representative of this indefatigable figure."

"Fridrich Bruk’s music has roots in the tradition of Russian colourful orchestral music. The Latvian kantele-like instrument kokle brings a refreshing twist to the sound palette."

"Though it’s naturally heartening to see Finnish musicians on a Finnish label keeping up the stream of Nordgren recordings, it’s high time the rest of the world caught on to this remarkable music."

"Lindberg makes use of characteristic stepwise harmonic progressions and a gorgeously bright orchestration, with brass fanfares and outbursts of solo piano."

"It's more about words than action, and, musically, more about continuity than sharp contrasts. Fagerlund's music is charged with eruptive energy, and provides a dark and sorrowful autumnal setting for the characters' emotional struggles."