Piae Cantiones

Piae Cantiones (Spiritual Songs), the first Finnish music ever to be printed, was published in Greifswald in 1582. Although many of the texts are on religious themes, the Piae Cantiones songs are not hymns; they represent a varied repertoire sung as extra-curricular entertainment for students. Styles range from the lively dancerhythms

and catchy refrains of Gaudete, to the cool renaissance counterpoint of Jesu dulcis memoria to the austere restraint of chant-like melody in Angelus emittitur, the first song in the book.

Andrew Lawrence-King, who has been playing alongside Jordi Savall for decades, conducts this vivid tribute to the Finnish music.