Petrarca-Suite, Op.118 Gudarnas spar, Op.88 Vestenvinden, Op73a Lamento – Burletta (1957) Barnet travar, Filmmanuskript & En varvisa from Op.38a Mitt träd är pinjen, Op.12 No.5 Four Songs for mixed chorus, Op.44b Psalm, Op.50a Springtime, Op 60 Vart land, Op.146 Nein zur Lebensangst, Op.120 Hommage a Béla Bartók, Op.132 Sommarnatt (1945) Nu är sommarn här (1943) Skärgardsgossens visa (arr.) (1938) Den vän jag älskat… (arr.) Och gossen gick sig ut… (arr.) (1937) Tyttöset, Op.73b Väinämöinen, Op.147
In his later years often described as the grand old man of Finnish modernism, Erik Bergman(1911–2006) was among the first in Finland to use compositional methods such as twelve-tone technique, serial music, choral Sprechgesangand aleatory counterpoint. His speciality was choral music, and a large part of his huge production involves a choir in some form. This recording focuses primarily on his works for mixed choir that have not appeared on disc before, and gives a broad picture of his production for the medium over a period of more than 60 years. Born to a Swedish-speaking family, many of Bergman’s settings were of poems in Swedish, but he was a true internationalist and this two-disc set also includes works with texts in Italian, Norwegian, English, German, and, naturally, Finnish. These are here performed by the Helsinki Chamber Choir, Finland’s only professional chamber choir, under its artistic director Nils Schweckendiek.