Search - Joonas Kokkonen, Ulf Soderblom, Osmo Vänskä :: Kokkonen: Symphony No. 1 (1958-60); Symphony No. 2 (1960-61); Symphony No. 3 (1967); Symphony No. 4 (1971); Opus sonorum (1965); Requiem (1981)

Kokkonen (1921-1996) is in the line of Finnish symphonists that starts with Sibelius and takes it to the end of the century. He avoided most of the century's trends, making use early on of the dodecaphonic style, but refused to do so rigidly. This is an astonishing collection of the Kokkonen symphonies, none of which are too long. What they lack in length, they make up for in utilitarian exactness. Kokkonen keeps mostly to a twelve-tone agenda, but is willing to shift to basic tone clusters when it suits him. There is an undeniable power to this man's work and this is an important collection. -- Paul Cook