Juhani Lagerspetz & Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra & Susanna Malkki - Tiensuu: Minds And Moods (CD)

Release Date: 01/01/06

I had not encountered anything by the Finnish composer Jukka Tiensuu until I heard these two CDs. I now have a much clea

I had not encountered anything by the Finnish composer Jukka Tiensuu until I heard these two CDs. I now have a much clearer aural image of the music. If he is a romantic he is a virtuoso one happy to grasp any technique that serves his expressive needs. These include dissonance, electronic means, mosaic in frenzied motion, fantasy cut free from the usual chain and leash. Tiensuu feels free to experiment and that liberty is clearly central to his creativity. Its purpose is, as he said in 1983, to attain the shortest possible route to the highest spiritual spheres. He refuses to provide programme notes and leaves the music to speak for itself.Rob Barnett