Riemuitkaamme!: A Finnish Christmas Helsinki Chamber Choir & Nils Schweckendiek

• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
• 16 Schübler Chorales: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645 - Sleepers Wake! (Sung in Finnish as Synkkä Yö Maan Peitti Aivan)09:27
• Jean Sibelius (1865-1957):
• 25 Christmas Songs, Op. 1: No. 4, Giv mig ej glans, ej guld, ej prakt (Sung in Finnish as En Etsi Valtaa, Loistoa) [Arr. O. Elokas for Choir]02:43
• Anonymous:
• 3Nuorison lauluja pianon säestyksellä, Op. 20b: No. 5, Arkihuolesi Kaikki Heitä (Arr. for Choir & Organ)01:38
• 4Puer natus in Bethlehem (Sung in Finnish as "Synnytti piltin Bethlehem")07:04
• Taneli Kuusisto (1905-1988):
• 5Pastorale, Op. 18 No. 2 (Arr. for Organ)04:56
• Hector Berlioz (1803-1869):
• 6L'enfance du Christ, Op. 25: L'adieu des bergers a la Sainte Famille (Sung in Finnish as "Paimenten Jäähyväiset Pyhälle Perheelle") [Arr. N. Schweckendiek]04:21
• Armas Maasalo (1885-1960):
• 7Joulun Kellot03:07
• Anonymous:
• 8Piae Cantiones: No. 13, Ecce Novum Gaudium02:41
• 9Piae Cantiones: No. 1, Angelus emittitur (Sung in Finnish as Enkel' alas liihottaa)04:13
• Jean Sibelius:
• 10On lapsonen syntynyt meille, JS 14203:07
• Matthew Whittall (1975- ):
• 11Aattoilta03:30
• Anonymous:
• 12Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her (Sung in Finnish as Enkeli taivaan lausui näin)07:10
• Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016):
• 13Christmas Carol04:11
• Ahti Sonninen (1914-1984):
• 14Jouluhymni02:51
• Arvi Karvonen (1888-1969):
• 15Organ Pastorale04:52
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893):
• 1616 Songs for Children, Op. 54, TH 104: No. 5, Legenda (Sung in Finnish as Jeesuslapsen Tarhassa)03:49
• Anonymous:
• 17Maa on niin kaunis02:21
• Total Runtime01:12:01

Info zu Riemuitkaamme!: A Finnish Christmas

Riemuitkaamme! is an imaginative and unconventional selection of choral music associated with Christmas as it is celebrated in Finland. Several of the pieces are by Finnish composers - Sibelius, Rautavaara and Madetoja, to name a few - while others have become part of the Christmas traditions of the country despite their international background. Among these Berlioz The Shepherds Farewell and Tchaikovskys Christ, when a Child are quite late additions compared to the medieval hymns Puernatusin Bethlehem, Ecce novum gaudium and Angelus emittitur. All three of these were included in the collection Piae cantiones from 1582, the oldest Finnish music publication. Here, they are performed in settings by various composers from different countries and eras forming a kind of soundtrack of Christmases past and present, distant and close. Contemporary music forms an important part of the activities of the Helsinki Chamber Choir and Nils Schweckendiek, and true to form, the team includes a world premiere recording in their celebrations: Aattoilta, by the Canadian-born composer Matthew Whittall.

Jan Lehtola, organ
Helsinki Chamber Choir
Nils Schweckendiek, direction

The Helsinki Chamber Choir (Helsingin kamarikuoro)
was founded in 1962 as the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir and assumed its current name in 2005. It is currently Finland’s only professional chamber choir.

The choir’s Artistic Director from 2005–2007 was Kimmo Hakola. Since 2007 Nils Schweckendiek has been responsible for the group's artistic planning.

While its wide-ranging repertoire includes music from the Renaissance to the present day, the Helsinki Chamber Choir is particularly highly regarded for its work with new music. The choir regularly commissions new works and has given over 50 world premieres in the seasons since 2005, as well as more than 30 Finnish first performances. The choir appears frequently at major Finnish music festivals and collaborates with orchestras and Baroque and contemporary music ensembles. Recent touring has included concerts in Russia, Estonia and Belgium.

The Helsinki Chamber Choir's concerts are regularly broadcast on radio and television, both nationally and internationally. Particular highlights have been televised performances on the international cultural channel ARTE of Michael Haydn's Requiem in 2006 and Einojuhani Rautavaara's Vigilia in 2013.

The Helsinki Chamber Choir's recording of Magnus Lindberg's Graffiti (with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo) was nominated for a Grammy in the contemporary music category in 2010. During its days as the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir, the group recorded a number of CDs for the Ondine label, including Rautavaara's complete works for mixed a cappella choir. The choir's most recent appearance on CD is in the world premiere recording of Veli-Matti Puumala's opera Anna Liisa (to be released in May 2015). A number of other recordings will appear in the near future.

Since 2012 the Helsinki Chamber Choir has been a member of Tenso, the association of European professional chamber choirs.

The Finnish Radio Chamber Choir’s principal conductors were Harald Andersén, Kaj-Erik Gustafsson, Ilmo Riihimäki, Eric-Olof Söderström and Timo Nuoranne. Alongside Nils Schweckendiek, in recent years the choir has worked with conductors including Kaspars Putnins, Fredrik Malmberg, Eric-Olof Söderström, Andres Mustonen, Olari Elts, Rachid Safir, Tim Brown, Anne Azéma, Aapo Häkkinen, James Wood and Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Nils Schweckendiek
studied music at Clare College, Cambridge, and orchestral and choral conducting in Freiburg and Helsinki. In 2006 he made his debut at the Finnish National Opera with Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and subsequently conducted numerous opera and ballet performances at the same house. Guest performances have taken him to the Leipzig Opera (Der Rosenkavalier), the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Vaasa, Berne and Bielefeld. From 2009-2013 he was the conductor of the Ulm Opera, where he conducted first nights of, amongst others, Don Carlo (Verdi), Ariodante (Handel), Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev), Der Ring an einem Abend (Wagner) and Le sacre du printemps (Stravinsky).

Nils Schweckendiek is committed to performing the music of our time and has conducted around eighty first performances, including music theatre, orchestral, choral and ensemble works. In 2013 his performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara's monumental Vigilia with the Helsinki Chamber Choir was televised on ARTE. He has worked with numerous orchestras in Finland, Germany, Spain, England, China and Estonia.

Since 2007 Nils Schweckendiek has been Artistic Director of the Helsinki Chamber Choir. In 2014 he was appointed Professor of Choral Conducting at the University of the Arts (Sibelius Academy) in Helsinki. Guest conducting has included the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart and the Danish Radio National Concert Choir. In the 2015/16 season he will be appearing with Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, the Finnish Baroque Orchestra, the Mannheim Opera Choir, the Netherlands Radio Choir, the Croatian Radio and TV Choir, and defunensemble. He is Founder and Artistic Director of the International Einojuhani Rautavaara Composition Competition, the second edition of which is being held in 2015/16.

Booklet für Riemuitkaamme!: A Finnish Christmas