Listen to Martin Stacey performing Fantasia on two hymns in the Finnish Hymnbook of 1701 on 7th October 2006 at St Dominic's Priory, London NW5

Fantasia on two hymns in the Finnish Hymnbook of 1701 (2001)

The Fantasia on Two Tunes from the Finnish Hymnal of 1701 was commissioned by the Cathedral Parish of Oulu in Northern Finland, and premiered by Maija Tynkkynen in November 2001. As the title suggests, the work is based on and inspired by traditional melodies. It is a set of variations where the melodies, or parts of them, are handled either separately or contrapuntally. The work culminates in a ‘third’ tune, a hybrid melody, combining elements from both of them. The Hymnal of 1701 (commonly called The Old Hymnal) was used in Finland until 1896. It was published by commission of The Swedish King in order to be used in the Finnish-speaking parts of the kingdom - the present Finland. Thus the majority of the 249 tunes of the hymnal are the same as those in the corresponding Swedish book from 1697. However, there are several tunes of other origins, and three of them have no obvious model found elsewhere. I first became acquainted with the archaic, powerful idiom of the Old Hymnal through my friend, the renowned opera singer Esa Ruuttunen, also a priest. I have used hymns and tunes from it in three of my works. The tunes used in the Fantasia are No.190 “Father Almighty” and No.277 “I think that the world is a terrible place”

Duration: 8 minutes
Available from: Fennica Gehrman
Price: £8.50