Aarre Merikanto (1893-1958) was a natural-born symphonist, yet his output in that genre is less extensive than it should be. His First, recorded here for the first time, was composed twice over (once while a Reger student and again after orchestration lessons with Vasilenko), reached its final form in 1916, and is a garrulous, structurally ramshackle work, a tapestry of influences delightfully orchestrated with the emphasis on the atmospheric rather than the symphonic. The overlong third movement, Andante con moto, at over 17' is as long as the first two spans combined and, with the 12' finale, somewhat overbalances the whole. And yet I find myself drawn deeper into its lush, late-Romantic idiom with every hearing.

The Third (1952-53; not to be confused with the impressive single-span Fantasia of 1923 recorded by Finlandia in the 1980s – nla) is in its way just as unusual but more satisfying a design, opening with a scherzo and succeeded by a lovely slow movement and vibrant finale all in proportion. The Third sounds like a relaxation work, like Brahms’s Second or Honegger’s Fourth, coming after a Herculean struggle elsewhere, but is beguiling on its terms. The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra give superbly articulated performances of both works and Sakari clearly has the measure of Merikanto’s symphonism. Alba’s sound is recorded at rather a low level, so turn the volume up a notch or two more than normal. No 2, a War Symphony almost 30 years before Englund’s, is being recorded later this year and is keenly anticipated.