1998 Naxos release

In 1882 three important musical foundations were laid in Finland - the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy), the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Helsinki University Chorus. The Helsinki University Chorus became the principal choir of the Finnish- speaking community, and today Finland is known as the 'Land of a Thousand Choirs'. Indeed choral singing has been an important feature of Finnish cultural life for hundreds of years. In medieval times the musical centre was the city of Turku on the South- Western tip of Finland, and it was in Turku at the end of the 16th century that an important collection of songs emerged - the Piae Cantiones. In 1582, exactly three hundred years before the founding of the modern Finnish musical establishment, the headmaster of Turku Cathedral School (Jaakko Suomalainen) compiled and edited a collection of seventy-four songs which he entitled Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum Episcoporum (Devout church and school Songs of the ancient Bishops). Jaakko Suomalainen was a confirmed Protestant, whereas the publisher of the Piae Cantiones (the young Theodoric Petri) held distinctly Catholic beliefs: this religious tension between compiler and publisher is evident throughout the two hundred pages of the Piae Cantiones. The uniqueness of the Piae cantiones lies in the preservation not only of songs for the church, but of songs specifically for school use.

For review see: https://www.allmusic.com/album/let-voices-resound-songs-from-piae-cantiones-1582-mw0001942071#review

For track listing see image of rear insert

Used CD in Ex / VG condition. Stock photos