This recording showcases Magnus Lindberg's famed skills as an orchestral composer. Seht die Sonne ("Behold the Sun"; 2007) borrows its title from the final chorus in Schoenberg's Gurrelieder; it is an ideal example of his recent, more approachable style.

GRAFFITI (2009) is Lindberg's first large-scale choral work with orchestra, which earned him the 2009 Finnish Composer Society's Award. The sung texts (performed by the Helsinki Chamber Choir) are a selection of 2000-year-old Latin graffiti inscriptions from the walls of excavated Pompeii houses. Their themes cover a range of aspects of domestic, political or civic life, including even some graphic language. International performances of this vital music (with hints of Stravinsky, Britten and Orff) have been received with great public and critical acclaim.

Sakari Oramo and the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra are experienced champions of their compatriot's music; their recording of Sculpture, Campana in aria and Concerto for orchestra (ODE 1124-2) was listed by the New York Times among a selection of the 22 most notable recordings of 2008. The recording of Clarinet Concerto (ODE 1038-2) won best contemporary / première recording at both the Gramophone Awards and the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2006.

"Oramo and his Helsinki forces give both works terrific performances." --Martin Anderson, Finnish Musical Quarterly, 1/2010

"Two of Magnus Lindberg's recent works, among the most substantial that he has composed to date, make a logical pairing. Taken together they show how effective his recent style is in creating large-scale musical structures." --Andrew Clements, The Guardian, March 25, 2010

"Lindberg's conviction, and technical resourcefulness, in creating this sound world can inspire rapturous enjoyment or alienated bafflement (...). The effect is always upbeat, exuberant and laid down with immense panache by the Finnish forces involved, in spectacularly vivid sound." --Arnold Whittall, Gramophone, March 2010