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 Sprechgesang and 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.

Performers Iida Antola Riko Eklundh Helsinki Chamber Choir Tuomas Katajala Piia Komsi Jarno Lehtola Valter Maasalo Markus Nieminen Tuula Paavola Sirkku Rintamäki Susanna Tollet Herman Wallén Nils Schweckendiek, conductor

Contemporary BIS-2252 CD BIS2252 Format CD – 2 discs Release date Apr 2017 Total time 112'03

Sound samples on BIS website