Jouni Somero

Jouni Somero – Palmgren: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 5 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:18:04 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Grand Piano

For many years the Busoni student Selim Palmgren was the most frequently performed Finnish composer after Sibelius. With a portfolio of nearly 400 piano works, his contribution to the prestige of the Nordic repertoire was significant both in scope and creative artistry. This fifth volume of Palmgren’s complete solo piano music explores oriental moods in Exotic March, Op. 46, and includes two of his best-known and most beautiful pieces, Aftonröster, Op. 47 No. 1 (“Evening Whispers”) and the winter magic of Snöflingor, Op. 57 No. 2 (“Snowflakes”). The Sonatine in F major, Op. 93 marked Palmgren’s return to composition after the death of his wife five years earlier and enshrines nostalgia whilst hinting at neo-Classicism.
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Jouni Somero – Palmgren: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 4 (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:12:36 minutes | 1,23 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Digital Booklet, Front Cover | © Grand Piano

Selim Palmgren, a student of Busoni, was one of the leading Nordic composers during the first decades of the 20th century. His wide-ranging music for piano was performed and recorded by some of the greatest artists of the day. This third volume in the first complete cycle of Palmgren’s piano music on disc includes a varied cross-section of works written over a 50-year period. It includes the youthful Lyriskt intermezzo, Op. 8, romantic miniatures of great charm—as well as one of his greatest achievements, the atmospheric suite Kevät (‘Spring’), in which impressionist elements fuse with rich Finnish folk melody.
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Jouni Somero – Palmgren: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 7 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:10:37 minutes | 1,13 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Grand Piano

Selim Palmgren was one of the most prominent composer-pianists of his era, and is also noted as one of the earliest composers of Impressionist piano miniatures, beautifully represented in the nostalgic atmosphere of his Impromptu dans la solitude, Op. 63, No. 2. The autobiographical Päiväkirjan lehtisiä, Op. 109 (‘Diary Sheets’) belongs amongst Palmgren’s final works for the piano. This seventh volume in Jouni Somero’s acclaimed edition of Palmgren’s complete piano works includes many rarities and premiere recordings.

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Jouni Somero – Palmgren: Complete Piano Works, Vol. 6 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:09:37 minutes | 1,14 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Grand Piano

Selim Palmgren’s piano miniatures were extremely popular during his lifetime and were played by the great virtuosos of the day. The sixth volume in this acclaimed series presents a panorama of Palmgren’s works and includes two of his greatest and most important solo pieces – the suite Ungdom, Op. 28 laced with Impressionist and Finnish folk elements, and the Three Piano Pieces, Op. 54 which includes Raindrops and Moonlight, two of his best-known and most atmospheric works. Also included are Lisztian virtuoso studies, Hungarian evocations, and a beautiful, moving Prélude funèbre that was played at Palmgren’s own funeral. Jouni Somero, Palmgren’s greatest modern exponent, continues his historic survey of piano music by one of Finland’s most respected and admired composers.
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