Works for Solo Piano

• Known for his orchestral output - 16 symphonies and 21

concertos to date! - Finnish composer Kalevi Aho was

recently described in Gramophone as having 'a strong claim

to the title of greatest living symphonist'.

• But Aho has also composed a large number of works for

smaller forces - quartets and quintets, duos and solo pieces.

• On the present disc, the Finnish pianist Sonja Fraki presents

Aho's output for solo piano, comfortably fitting on one disc,

but nevertheless spanning some 30 years of a long career.

• The disc opens with his earliest published work, the

Nineteen Preludes from 1965-68, written before the

composer had begun any formal studies of either

composition or the piano.

• As in much of his other music, the works for piano display

his characteristic fascination with the virtuosic and

technically brilliant side of music-making.

• On the present disc, this quality comes to the fore in the

Sonata, with it's sparkling first movement and percussive,

toccata-like second movement followed by a searching

Tranquillo molto, characterized by a trill which continues

almost without interruption throughout the movement.

• Solo II is likewise a challenge for any pianist, forming part

of a series of big (roughly ten-minute) solo works for various

instruments, several of which have been recorded by BIS.