Ilona Korhonen Ensemble Tarkka Pää, Tania Mieli

Brilliant Finish
Tarkka Pää, Tania Mieli
Ilona Korhonen Ensemble
Aania

Finland takes its native folk music very seriously. But rather than this being a dry and dusty practice, it’s study is a vibrant activity where students entering into the portals of academia are encouraged to grab the old tunes and run with them.

The work of respected accordion players such as Maria Kalaniemi or Kimmo Pohjonen of breathing new life into something ancient provide perfect examples of respecting tradition whilst breaking new ground whilst operating at very different ends of the musical spectrum.

Ilona Korhonen, a graduate of the folk music department of Finland’s Sibelius Academy, has created a startling mesh for 17 female voices guaranteed to send shivers down your spine.

Based upon the oral poems of Finland’s Larin Paraske, Korhonen has scored a complex polyphonic delivery whose occasionally jarring harmonies frequently slice and spice the music in the most dramatic fashion.

Strong rhythmic undercurrents, whispered words, skittering theatrical patches, as well as the glorious purity of 17 voices locked together and raised heavenwards make the album a varied, potent listening experience.

Not unlike the other-worldly sounds of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares at times, the capacity of these voices to lift us up and transport us from the everyday should never be underestimated.