Review of My Concert in Aamulehti

Review in Aamulehti 16 May 2014.

Translation of the review:

Sensitive atmospheres

Music
Cecilia Damström’s compositions concert
***
Pyynikkisali 14.5 
The first concert of the young and promising composer Cecilia Damström, was characterized by a wonderful positive atmosphere filled with smiles, which isn’t quite the standard within the field of contemporary music.

Damström has a genuine ability to touch the listeners, although at times her compositional technique leaves a slightly unfinished and naivistic impression (especially in the piece Flying High).

The music she has composed so far is carried by soft harmonies, romantically spiced ambience and by melodicnes. Richer rhythmic and more dramatic power remains still to be wised for.

The theme of the consert Landet som icke är (The Land Which Is Not), is also her break through piece, in which the music, just as the language of Edit Södergran, keeps moving forward by the yearning for an other world. The bilingual mirroring of the sensitive texts generates a tension that easily keeps the piece together.

Damström had an opportunity to sink into her personal feelings with her piece Dagbok, in which the aphoristic poems also are a proof the composers verbal talents. The sister of the composer Jacintha Damström interpreted the small songs touchingly with her expressive soprano voice. In the second half of the concert the chamber choir Näsin Ääni sang three choral works while conducted by Markus Yli-Jokipii. The multi-lingual Han som du älskar finns inte mer (The man you love doesn’t exist anymore) was the most interesting and varying of these works.

The new choral premieres Visheten and Min Gud (for mixed choir) were slightly squat due to their seriousness, even though they are very idiomatic choral music.

Harri Hautala (free translation by Cecilia Damström)