Cantus Arcticus, etc.

When I first moved to Karlskrona there were two branches of the Skivlagret record shop: the cooler one in the town centre and a blander one in an out-of-town mall in the same building as the Robin Hood supermarket. The latter location held a stock of budget Naxos classical releases, and it was thanks to these discs that I first got into the music of Shostakovich, and also, into the work of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara.

There are three pieces on the CD, all featuring the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Hannu Lintu: 'Cantus Arcticus', a so-called 'concerto for birds and orchestra', with the former represented by tape-recordings of birdsong made in northern Finland. This is an immediately-accessible and beautiful composition, somewhat reminiscent of Sibelius. Next is the striking 'Piano Concerto No. 1', with Laura Mikkola the soloist, which is predominantly melodic, but with piquant 'cluster' chords on the piano made by applying a whole fist or forearm to the keyboard.

Lastly there is what is to me a less appealing work in the shape of Rautavaara's 'Symphony No. 3' - a piece which combines modernist serialism and 19th-century Germanic symphonic flavours. The first two works sufficed to get me interested in this composer and, while, I bought a good many more CDs of his work thereafter, and although there are probably better performances of these works elsewhere, I retain great affection for this album.

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