Experience "Töölö"
Brass band sound & music from Finland
New CD from Töölö Brass: Finnish original music for brass band and transcriptions for Töölö Brass.
Get your own copy for 20€ by ordering from cd@toolobrass.fi.
The album is also available via iTunes and all major streaming services. Links to Spotify can be found below in CD content details.
Töölö is a district in downtown Helsinki with a versatile musical life. It is home to the National Opera, the Helsinki Music Centre, jazz clubs, and Töölö Brass. This recording “Töölö” is dedicated to Töölö and our home city Helsinki.
Content:
1. Bernhard Henrik Crusell: March no 9 Kenthorn
2. Leevi Madetoja: Barcarole
3. Timo Forsström: Life in the Capital City - Five Corners, Silent Park, Song of the Old Shipyard
4. Lasse Mårtenson: Myrskyluodon Maija
5. Timo Forsström: Brasspect I
6. Anders Edenroth, Matti Kallio: Nordic Polska
7. Timo Forsström: Monark Avenue
Making of "Töölö"
Töölö Brass has been rehearsed and conducted by Okko Kivikataja.
The music on this CD was recorded on the 11th and 12th of December 2021 and on the 27th of February 2022 in Uusi Paviljonki in Kauniainen. This recording has received financial support from the Zachris Castrén foundation.
Varistoteles Studios/Markku Veijonsuo did a great job in recording and producing of these works.
Sheet music material of works composed by Timo Forsström is available from Blosari Edition www.Blosari.com
Musicians
Soprano cornet Eb: Antti Joki
Principal cornet Bb: Thomas Bugnot, solo cornet (works 3,4,6,7) and Jere-Pekka Laitinen, solo cornet (works 1,2,5)
Solo Cornet Bb: Anssi Autio, Juha Laurila, Simo Rantanen, Juho Rauhala
Repiano cornet Bb: Erkki Haunio
Second cornet Bb: Tiina Huovinen, Leena Pietilä, Peter Lillbroända
Third cornet Bb: Danielle Treacy, Sinikka Särkilahti,
Lasse Murtomäki
Flugelhorn Bb: Minna Kurki
Solo Horn Eb: Juhani Karppinen
First Horn Eb: Per Hytönen
Second Horn Eb: Marjukka Hietaniemi
First Baritone Bb:Jussi Erälahti
Second Baritone Bb: Ville Fogelberg
Solo Euphonium Bb: Tom Bildo
Second Euphonium Bb: Morgan Werkland
First Trombone Bb: Ari Järvi
Second Trombone Bb: Vesa Lehtisalo
Bass trombone C: Carl Eklund, Teemu Salmi (works 3,4,6,7)
Basses Eb: Juha Salmela, Juho Simonen
Basses Bb: Teuvo Lampinen,
Juha Virtanen
Percussions: Maissi Uusitalo, Jaakko Rauhamaa, Alejandro Martin Agustin, Vesa Putkonen, Daniel Sinkkonen
CD Contents in detail (with Spotify links):
March # 9 Kenthorn
Bernhard Henrik Crusell (1775-1838)
Bernhard Henrik Crusell was a Finnish musician and composer who served as court musician in Stockholm.
Crusell’s March is the honorary march of all Finnish Army military bands. The arrangement for brass band was written by Ray Farr.
'Kenthorn' nickname points to the innovation of a chromatic bugle developed in England and promoted by the Duke of Kent for his army bands. They were widely in use by 1815. This music makes good use of these new capabilities of lower note chromatic sequences.
Barcarole
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
Leevi Madetoja is one of the most significant composers of Finnish music after Jean Sibelius and represents late romanticism. He originally wrote Barcarole op. 67 in 1929 for a Finnish brass septet.
The work was arranged for brass band by Ray Farr.
Life in the Capital City
Timo Forsström (b. 1961)
Timo Forsström is one of the leading contemporary composers for wind bands in Finland and a renowned brass player as well. Life in the Capital City was commissioned by Soitinmusiikkiliitto and was premiered by the Gothenburg Wind Orchestra conducted by Sami Hannula in February 2011. Life in the Capital City was arranged for brass band by Logan Moore.
This work has three movements: Five Corners, Silent Park, and Song of the Old Shipyard.
Five Corners reflects the scenery of the famous Five Corners intersection in Helsinki. The streets that meet at this intersection take pedestrians in five different directions: the first towards downtown, the second past shabby side street bars, the third towards tranquil parks, the fourth towards the seashore, and the fifth to an old church.
Silent Park describes the anxiety and agony that followed the death of a young girl who was killed in a suburban park on Saturday, July 17, 2008. An abundance of flowers and candles were brought to the park the next day by a large number of people who grieved for her in suffocating silence.
Antti Joki plays the soprano cornet solo.
Song of The Old Shipyard echoes the sounds of the Suomenlinna Shipyard as shipbuilders prepare historical wooden crafts in the spring as they wait to get out to sea.
Myrskyluodon Maija
Lasse Mårtenson (1934-2016)
Myrskyluodon Maija (Stormskärs Maja) is a popular TV series from 1976 based on the novel by Anni Blomqvist, describing the hard life of a fisherman's family. Its beautiful theme song became an all-nation favorite.
The brass band arrangement is by Hannu Raijas.
Brasspect I
Timo Forsström
Töölö Brass commissioned this work from Timo Forsström and it is his first original composition for brass band. Töölö Brass premiered the work in 2017, Finland’s 100th anniversary of independence, under the baton of Ville Paakkunainen.
Nordic Polska
Anders Edenroth (b. 1963) and Matti Kallio (b. 1976)
Nordic Polska has its roots in Swedish and Finnish folk music. It was composed by Anders Edenroth in 2015 and gained recognition, in particular, via the version for the ‘Leveleleven’ vocal group formed by combining Matti Kallio’s ‘Rajattomat’ and Anders Edenroth’s ‘The Real Group’.
The arrangement on this recording is by Philip Harper in 2016.
Monark Avenue
Timo Forsström
This jovial composition depicts a bicycle ride through the beautiful Finnish countryside. It is one of the most popular Finnish pieces for a wind band.
The brass band arrangement is by Logan Moore and Eric Aho.