Toivo Kuula: Complete Solo Songs, Volume Two
Toivo Kuula (1883–1918) is one of the many composers who died at a tragically young age – 34 in his case: he was hit by a bullet fired after a brawl at a victory celebration at the end of the Finnish Civil War. The immediacy of the music he wrote during his short life points to the immensity of the loss not only to Finnish culture but to music more generally – as this second album of two, presenting his entire output of songs for solo voice and piano, makes abundantly clear. The range of moods captured here is striking; the most passionate of these songs generate an operatic intensity in their short span, in a style that balances directness of expression and rich late-Romantic harmonies.
Jenni Lättilä, soprano
Kirill Kozlovski, piano
Listen To This Recording:
- The Maiden and the Son of a Boyer, Op. 18 No. 2 (1911)* (11:43)
Four Songs, Op. 23 (1912) (10:18)
- No. 1, The Blue Maiden (2:28)
- No. 2, Ave Maria (3:55)
- No. 3, Treading on Flowers (1:19)
- No. 4, Fate (2:36)
Four Songs, Op. 24 (1913) (13:38)
- No. 1, Saturday Night (4:19)
- No. 2, Ice Flowers (3:04)
- No. 3, Old Autumn Song (3:35)
- No. 4, Heathland Allure (2:40)
- Vocalise (Mélodie Lugubre) Op. 17c, No. 2 (1909/1911)* (3:57)
Three Songs, Op. 29a (1915) (8:01)
- No. 1, Come, My Love (1915) (2:32)
- No. 2, The Bird Protecting its Nest (1914)
- No. 3, The Herder Boys (4:10)
- Imandra’s Song, Op. 30c No. 4 (1916) (2:19)
- Spring Song (1917) (3:40)
Two Songs, Op. 31a (1917) (4:45)
- No. 1, Sailing in the Moonlight (2:13)
- No. 2, In the Cattle-yard (2:32)
*First Recordings in this Version
First Complete Recording
Classical Music Daily :
‘I have often been attracted by Scandinavian composers and he immediately drew my attention and admiration. […]
The Maiden and the Son of a Boyar, Op 18 No 2, […] really displays the talents of two very fine creators. […]
One immediately hears [in Op.23] a composer that is sure of his craft and the resulting Lied, varied and very enjoyable, are as fine as any examples of Finnish song writing you would hope to hear. […]
This is followed by Four Songs, Op 24. I would suggest strongly that listeners familiarise themselves with both the explanations and the song texts in the excellent booklet. These are gorgeous songs with a quite varied subject matter. The composer reveals himself as a rare talent with an excellent flair for lieder writing, and in fact some commentators have gone so far as to say that Kuula’s talents surpassed those of his teacher [Sibelius]. […]
The performances on this lovely disc are very fine indeed. Jenni Lättilä has a fine powerful voice, full of life and character, and Kirill Kozlovski is the perfect associate artist, performing with flair and virtuosity when required. Both performers share a love for this music.
f you enjoy the music of Scandinavia, and in particular, the music of Finland, you are in for a real treat. The recordings are sumptuous in sound quality and the accompanying booklet is informative and well arranged. With this disc, you are in for a rare treat, and one can only wonder what mavellous things Toivo Kuula would have written, were his life not so tragically cut short.’
—Geoff Pearce, Classical Music Daily