South Ostrobothnian Suites Nos. 1 & 2 - Festive

A Finnish composer with significant melodic gifts and a private pupil of Sibelius, Toivo Kuula (1883-1918) is best-known as a tragic national-romantic composer of vocal music, although he took considerable interest in writing orchestral music and in his orchestral works, conjuring up powerful Nordic moods. This new disc features a large portion of Kuula's orchestral works completed by the time of his premature death, mostly written during the 1910s. This is the first release on Ondine by the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and their new (2012) chief conductor Leif Segerstam.