Juha Kangas

The jouhikko, a traditional bowed lyre that represents a dead end in the evolution of musical instruments, is enjoying a renaissance not only in Finland but internationally too. Jouhikkos are being played and built as far afield as in the Americas, by amateurs and professional instrument makers alike. But what should a jouhikko actually look and sound like? What are the ideals governing its development? Jouhikko virtuoso Ilkka Heinonen adds his two cents.

"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."

When the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra brings together some of the works that over the years have been dedicated to the orchestra’s long-standing Artistic Director and now Honorary Conductor Juha Kangas, it is obviously going to be a collection of emotionally and expressively powerful and excellent music – pieces tailor-made for the orchestra’s deep-rooted sound and intense music-making.

Pehr Henrik Nordgren’s music often has a ritual, pictorial quality that generates a powerfully disturbing sense of atmosphere, of foreboding, as this album perfectly illustrates.

The moment the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra begins to play, the listener finds himself swept along in a grip that does not relax until the echo of the very last note has died away. It makes no difference whether the piece in question is a masterly miniature by Sibelius or the work of an unfamiliar ballet composer. The listener to this illustrious band is inclined to think that there is, maybe, no such thing as good and bad music, just music suited to different times, places and moods.