JUKKA TIENSUU (b.1948): Puro for Clarinet and Orchestra, Spiriti for Accordion and Orchestra, nemo for Ensemble, Sampler and Live Electronics.

Description: Tiensuu has elevated post-Postmodern eclecticism into an art form in its own right. nemo requires of the ensemble gliding clusters and odd microtonal tunings; bouncy, rather tonal repeating gestures suggesting (but never quite becoming) minimalism; melodic fragments and fragmentary twitterings, with spatial and timbral electronic manipulation added to the mix. The result is alternately atmospheric and exciting, and entertaining enough to be thoroughly approachable despite the avant-gardism implied by the above description. Puro has the solo clarinet hovering, soaring and fluttering over a landscape of bright-toned clusters and harmonics, through which pounding motoric chords intermittently force their way. Ingenious spatial imitative effects within the orchestra suggest electronic artifacts, though none appear actually to be present. Spiriti exploits the accordion's capacity to produce dense, pungent chordal clusters - an ideal solo instrument for Tiensuu, one might assume - and fast repeated gestures (including a fantastical birdsong-cadenza); the orchestral contribution contains the expected bending of pitches and dense, fluid landscapes. The composer's fertile imagination and ability to conjure an implied sense of storytelling renders this work in particular (the largest here at almost half an hour) a very accessible facet of the most advanced modernism. Kari Kriikku (clarinet), Mikko Luoma (accordion), Avanti!; Susanna Mälkki. SACD hybrid.