Lotta Wennäkoski: Sigla

Soaring strings, pulsating rhythms, a quicksilver energy and sparkling sense of light are qualities that lift the music of the Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski (b. 1970). And they all figure in this selection of orchestral works which, immaculately done by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Nicholas Collon, make a good introduction to Wennäkoski’s soundworld. The larger scores are Sigla, a super-agile harp concerto, and Sedecim, a reflection on Finnish history that combines heartfelt emotion with a spectral lightness of touch. But perhaps the most striking piece is the short, sharp but impactful Flounce, commissioned by the BBC for the 2017 Last Night of the Proms. Intended as an upbeat overture to celebration, it fulfilled the brief with whooping joy and aerial dizziness, compacted into just five minutes of ear-catching brilliance. There could be no better calling card for the composer.