Glow

Album review

Finland's Jaakko Kuusisto is perhaps better known as a violinist than as a composer. He writes music partly for his own use -- and is the violinist on the three central pieces on this five-work program -- but these are not display pieces. Kuusisto's music encompasses influences from a variety of sources: Debussy (especially), Stravinsky, Prokofiev, the Finnish tradition, and even minimalism. But the music on this album is linked together by a certain lyrical spirit, and it will probably commercially merit the release it has received on the major Swedish label BIS. Perhaps the most distinctive work is Jurmo, for piano solo, Op. 31 (2013): built in minimalist fashion on a series of repeated notes, but with an entirely personal take on the style. Sample also the larger violin chamber works Valo and Play II, which despite their abstract titles draw much from Romantic chamber music and have a rather programmatic feel. The music is accessible, and it suggests the neo-Romantic movement without ever taking recourse to a conventional tonal language. Perhaps an album for those who think they don't like contemporary music, this is a new entry in the growing catalog of highly effective new Finnish works that employ traditional media and forms.

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