Kuula’s reputation rests on his 40-odd solo and choral songs but he was reportedly an accomplished conductor and his orchestral music benefited from his experience on the podium. The programme covers the full range of his brief career, from the wonderful early song ‘Long I stared into the fire’ (1907; orchestrated by his friend Aarre Merikanto) and the folksy ‘Summer Evening’ (1907, orch 1917) to the Two Songs, Op 31a (1917-18). Susan Gritton sings these items superbly well but the pick are the impressive and impressionistic ‘The Sea-bathing Nymphs’ (1909-10) and darkly dramatic ‘The Maiden and the Son of a Boyar’, sung with fervour and intensity. Lovers of Ravel and Bax will delight in these.

The most vivid score, however, is Orjan poika (‘Son of a Slave’, 1912) – variously described on the back cover and in the booklet as a concert suite, tone-poem and concert series – a powerful orchestral legend extracted from his cantata to Eino Leino’s poem; if anything it is too short! By contrast, the South Ostrobothnian Suite No 2 (1912-13) is more outwardly conventional, especially the cod-Sibelian central miniatures, but its large finale, ‘Daemons lighting up the will-o’-the-wisp’, amounts to half the length and a viable tone-poem on its own, a remarkable inspiration that split reviewers at its premiere. The Prelude and Fugue (1909) is rather conventional. An enthralling disc.