Jumalaa Kiittaa Sieluni - Hymns In Finnish / Isokoski, Et Al

In this release, Finnish soprano Soile Isokoski applies her enormous talents to repertoire that is dear to her. Having grown up in a vicarage, these simple, quite Lutheran, hymns inhabit a special place in her heart, and she performs them with vocal purity and spiritual insight. The pieces are all culled from the 1986 incarnation of the Finnish Hymnal, the first version of which was published in 1580. Revised and amended over the years, its progress can be likened to that of the English Hymnal once updated by the estimable Ralph Vaughan Williams. Unfortunately, the track listing in the booklet apparently gives one a thumbnail sketch of the history of each of the pieces, but only in Finnish. From it I can, however, discern the earliest date Read more of each of the tunes, a number of which long pre-date the Finnish Hymnal’s first publication. The oldest pieces are dated 1539. The rest range from the 17th century to the 20th century.

The music is as austerely beautiful as a prize piece of Finnish ceramics. The hymns are almost Bach-like in their harmonic progressions and symmetry but, if one listens carefully, one can hear the influence of Finnish folk song lurking just beneath their surfaces.

I am a most irreligious person. I find my solace in the unjudgmental and undoctrinaire world of music. However, given the last 15 or so years when so many music aficionados, myself included, have embraced the medievalism of Arvo Pärt, or the long-limbed lines of Górecki’s Third Symphony with all their religious baggage, I find this simple and unadorned music deeply moving in ways I don’t really understand.

I suspect a lot of this has to do with the magic of Soile Isokoski’s vocal artistry. In these pages, and in another context, I once wrote that great vocalists (from Caruso forward) seduce us. And so does she—into her very private world, giving us an inkling into her numerous operatic triumphs. Accompanist Marita Viitasalo is with her hand in glove. The choice of harmonium rather than piano for some of these hymns is telling.

Texts are provided, but they are, alas, only in Finnish.

FANFARE: William Zagorski
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1. Jumalaa kiitää sieluni by Traditional

Performer: Soile Isokoski (Soprano)
Language: Finnish

2. Lahjoistas, Jeesus, pyhistä by Traditional

Performer: Soile Isokoski (Soprano)
Language: Finnish

3. Jeesuksesta laulan by Martti Hela

Performer: Soile Isokoski (Soprano), Marita Viitasalo (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1923
Language: Finnish

4. Silmäisi eteen, Jeesus by Huugo Nyberg

Performer: Soile Isokoski (Soprano), Marita Viitasalo (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1903
Language: Finnish

5. Vain sinä tunnet minut, Vapahtaja by Juhani Haapasalo

Performer: Soile Isokoski (Soprano), Marita Viitasalo (Piano)
Period: 20th Century
Language: Finnish

6. Valvoa mun, Jeesus, anna by Pohjois-Savosta,