With a solemn, grim chord in the orchestra and a dramatic yawp from bass-baritone
Juha Uusitalo, Finnish composer Toivo Kuula's 1910 symphonic legend Orjan poika (Son of a Slave) gets underway. This is the greatest large-scale work from the ill-fated Kuula, who was accidentally killed by angry celebrants toward the end of World War I; he was only 34 years old. It deals with a shadowy and sensitive area of Finnish history, the exploitation and genocide of the Sami -- a landless, nomadic people who have traditionally inhabited the northernmost areas of Scandinavia, regardless of nation -- by the "Pirkka," an old name for "Finn." This dramatic cantata cum "symphonic legend" does not address itself to a specific incident, but represents a period of time between the 14th and 16th centuries where the early Finns served as the designated tax collectors among the Sami, then incorrectly designated as the "Laplanders." There is no historic record of these events, and the whole issue is attested to only in folklore, accounting for the appropriate title chosen for Alba Records' release
Toivo Kuula: Legends. The album essentially belongs not just to Kuula, but to the Tampere Philharmonic Choir, which sings on all but two of its selections; the attendant orchestra -- as led by no less than
Leif Segerstam -- is heard on Orjan poika, the cantata Kuloemattomuuden toivo (Hope of Immortality, 1916), and provides two short instrumental pieces that are easily the least interesting things on the disc.
As with the average Alba products, the sound is clean, direct, and very well-balanced, and from end to end, Kuula's Orjan poika -- apparently recorded for the first time here -- is compelling, involving, and intensely dramatic. His slightly later Kuloemattomuuden toivo (Hope of Immortality) begins that way, but ultimately arrives at a heraldic, semi-patriotic bag that neither makes for a satisfying continuation or conclusion for the material that opens the work. The a cappella choruses are pleasant, of consistent style, and viewed as so central to Kuula's legacy that they have been recorded complete elsewhere. The instrumental pieces -- are Wedding March, Op. 21/2, and Morning Song Op. 2/3 -- are transcriptions for orchestra and do nothing to enhance Kuula's reputation; they are short, sentimental pieces that are non-original in style and the Wedding March seems longer than it needs to be, even though it lasts only six minutes. So in the end with Alba's release
Toivo Kuula: Legends is a strong work, a semi-strong work, and a lot of filler. Kuula was a student of Jean Sibelius and seen during his lifetime as the next step forward from Sibelius himself. Such was not to be, and despite the excellence of Orjan poika the impression one comes away with from
Toivo Kuula: Legends is that Kuula was certainly no competition for his master. Nevertheless, familiarity with Kuula's songs, piano pieces, and chamber music demonstrates that there is more to him than that and interested persons should begin with this area of Kuula's output first. Those who already know and enjoy Kuula's music will doubtless get something out of Orjan poika, but bear in mind that this work only accounts for a third of this album's length.