Toivo Kuula: Complete Solo Songs, Volume One

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Catalogue No: TOCC0719
EAN/UPC: 5060113447197
Release Date: 2024-05-03
Composer: Toivo Kuula
Artists: Jenni Lättilä, Kirill Kozlovski

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Toivo Kuula (1883–1918) is one of the many composers who died at a tragically young age – 35 in his case, the result of an alcohol-fuelled pub brawl. The striking quality 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 first 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, from cheery folksongs to dark existentialist contemplations of the meaning of life and death. The most passionate of them 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:

Three Songs, Op. 2 (8:48)

  1. No. 1, Autumn Mood (1904) (2:54)
  2. No. 2, I stared at the fire for a long time (1907) (4:29)
  3. No. 3, Morning Song (1905) (1:25)

  1. Night (1906) (2:35)

Two Songs, Op. 6 (1907) (5:17)

  1. No. 1, Summer Night in the Churchyard (2:36)
  2. No. 2, Epilogue (2:41)

Two Songs, Op. 8 (7:58)

  1. No. 1, The Kiss (1907-8) (4:32)
  2. No. 2, Marjatta’s Song (1908) (3:24)

  1. It’s only then (1899)* (0:43)
  2. Maidens Bathing in the Sea, Op. 12 (1909-10)* (8:12)

Two Songs, Op. 16a (4:00)

  1. No. 1, Sinikka’s Song (1910) (2:22)
  2. No. 2, Beat, Heart! (1906-09) (1:38)

  1. My Road Leads out into the World (1899) (0:57)
  2. Don’t Cry, my dear young Maiden (1901)* (1:08)
  3. Hi and ho! (Folksong from South Ostrobothnia)* (1:12)

Twelve Folksongs from South Ostrobothnia, Op. 17b (1908-9)** (18:23)

  1. No. 1, I will keep walking (0:51)
  2. No. 2, You mustn’t tell my old mum (1:59)
  3. No. 3, Cry from the bottom of your grave (0:52)
  4. No. 4, Oh those thousands of hours (1:05)
  5. No. 5, My dad’s cottage is low and small (1:08)
  6. No. 6, The lads are walking in the villages (1:26)
  7. No. 7, There I can see the red house (0:59)
  8. No. 8, Heikki of Hautala house has to spend the beautiful summer (2:33)
  9. No. 9, Wind bent the top of the birch (2:03)
  10. No. 10, Blue eyes and red cheeks (2:12)
  11. No. 11, You’re free to come and get back your ring (1:04)
  12. No. 12, People think I feel happy (2:11)

*First Recordings
**First Complete Recording

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2 reviews for Toivo Kuula: Complete Solo Songs, Volume One

  1. :

    ‘If one asked a Finnish music lover around 1912 to name Finland’s greatest composer after Sibelius, Toivo Kuula would be a likely answer. […]

    soprano Jenni Lättilä and pianist Kirill Kozlovski exceed all expectations in their performances. Ms. Lättilä’s singing is especially notable for the varied characterizations in each song, and her enunciation appears flawless – as far one can tell without knowing Finnish. She can put over the most operatic songs, like The Maidens Bathing, and produce a notably subdued tone for the quieter songs such as Summer Night and some of the folksongs. […]

    I look forward to Lättilä and Kozlovski’s presentation in Volume 2.’

    —William Kreindler, MusciWeb International

  2. :

    ‘Jenni Lättilä […] is more than satisfying as an interpreter of these songs. Her dramatic soprano voice has an attractive glow and is hefty enough for the big climaxes in Kuula’s most dramatic songs. […] in addition to the basically attractive timbre of her voice, is her concentration on the text and mood of each song. In the mocking song, “Hi and Ho,” where a girl who left her lover seems to celebrate the separation, Lättilä captures the irony perfectly. […]

    Kirill Kozlovski more than meets the requirements and echoes the singer perfectly.

    This CD is labeled Volume 1 of Kuula’s complete songs, and I look forward to Volume 2, as these songs are very much worth knowing. Because of the attractive quality of Lättilä’s voice and the superior recorded sound, I prefer this release to Finlandia’s earlier one. Toccata, as is usually its practice, provides intelligent notes and complete texts with translations. If you are attracted to the Romantic and late Romantic song literature, you will certainly find interest and enjoyment here.

    —Henry Fogel. Fanfare Magazine, Sept/Oct 2024

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