AULIS SALLINEN (b.1935): Elegy for Sebastian Knight for Solo Cello, Op. 10, Chamber Music III "The Nocturnal Dances of Don Juanquijote" for Cello and Strings, Op. 58, Introduction and Tango Overture for Piano and String Orchestra, Op. 74b, Chamber Music IV "Metamorphoses of Elegy for Sebastian Knight" for Piano and Strings, Op. 79, Chamber Music V "Barabbas Variations" for Accordion and Strings, Op. 80

Description: Dance, especially the tango, hugely popular in Finland since the early years of the 20th century, inflected with northern melancholy, and ideally suited to Sallinen's familiar idiom of incisive rhythm and obsessive, insistent driving home of his musical points is the common element in all of these pieces. Chamber Music III in places is probably as close to 'light' music as we are likely to get from Sallinen -this is a Spanish-inflected dance suite, animated and entertaining, though odd shadows and unhealthy thinking are never that far away. The angular opening motif of Chamber Music IV, derived from the early cello work that precedes it here, leads to an extended concertante work with the kind of tough, sinewy quality that characterises the composer's symphonic writing, though here, as in the Introduction and Tango Overture, with a distinctive timbral palette that places the work in the company of Shostakovich's first piano concerto and Bloch's wonderful Concerti Grossi. Chamber Music V involves the accordion, an ideal solo instrument for Sallinen's purposes, contributing lithe ambiguous melodies and, where required, pungent chords and clusters to a work that crackles with energy even in its quieter moments. Arto Noras (cello), Mika Väyrynen (accordion), Virtuosi di Kuhmo; Ralf Góthoni (piano).