Aki Yli-Salomäki

It takes courage to stay true to one’s vision and realize it in a way that feels authentic. This release by Eclipse Music provides a cross-section of Yli-Salomäki’s orchestral output. The title Valunta (‘Run-off’) is an apt description of an idiom in which expansive string writing and lingering wind melodies evoke premonitions from the peripheries of the mind.

"Foreigners like me once had the idea that Finland was a difficult country in which to be a composer; so strong was Sibelius’s legacy and so dominant those famous names who succeeded him. But that idea now seems outdated," writes Andrew Mellor in his column on the Day of Finnish Music.

The north is a regular theme in Finnish music. But it is also more. It is the main myth of the region’s inhabitants, an undertone that determines their thoughts and way of life. That is why the north can be heard in Finnish music even when it is not explicitly the theme.

Guitarists are unusually keen to commission new compositions. The guitarist, composer and audience all benefit, because the guitar, being a popular instrument, lowers the threshold to listening to new music. Finnish guitarists Petri Kumela, Otto Tolonen and Patrik Kleemola rank among the most active champions of new guitar repertoire.