Zagros Ensemble - Seppo Pohjola: Chamber Works (CD)

Release Date: 01/01/04

This is the second of two Alba CDs to come my way recently. The Tuukkanen disc presents music that takes us into Madetoj

This is the second of two Alba CDs to come my way recently. The Tuukkanen disc presents music that takes us into Madetoja-Wirén territory. Pohjola’s music is contemporary with linkages to Nyman and Shchedrin. Wild pell-mell eerie hunts alternate with the reflective and the discursive. Rhythmic material is precious to Pohjola. An example of the interplay between patterning and melody can be heard at 12.00 onwards in the String Quartet where the composer has clearly been influenced by the Ravel quartet. Pohjola is of the same family as Erkki Pohjola, founder of the Tapiola Choir. Sakari Oramo, the conductor of the CBSO, is his cousin.This is an extremely promising first disc.Rob Barnett