Pehr Henrik Nordgren

"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."

"One imagines that Nordgren would have been thrilled by the playing of the Kokkola Quartet and their guests."

The wars fought in the early decades of Finland’s independence cast a long, dark shadow far into the second half of the 20th century. The voice of war in works by Finnish composers speaks of victory, defeat, grief and reconciliation.

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.

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.

”Being a composer in Finland" means above all capturing the intellectual mood, and this also involves an understanding of the country's own traditions."