St. Olaf Band - Portrait of America [CD]

The brass septet 'Ameriikan Poijat' (Boys of America) has been appearing at ethnic festivals, regional tours, and music conferences, presenting authentic social dance music and concert repertoire. During the 1980's, Paul Niemistö, the group's founder, made contact with many Finnish brass players and discovering this relatively unknown musical tradition. In 1990 the group was formed, made up primarily of Midwestern musicians of Finnish descent. Ameriikan Poijat has evolved around the beautiful charm of the old music and dance arrangements, and has enjoyed popularity among Finnish American festival-goers. Although the septet had a limited existence among Finnish communities in the U.S., the music played by Ameriikan Poijat is quite familiar, being many of the same pieces heard played by accordion or salon orchestra. These brass players find the septet repertoire to be both meaningful ethnic art, as well as having a musicality attractive to all listeners. Members of Ameriikan Poijat are Finnish American musicians and teachers in the north central states of Minnesota and Michigan - a region were many Nordic settlers arrived. The repertoire of Ameriikan Poijat is derived directly from original hand manuscript sources to be found among Finnish bands and archives. Waltzes, schottisches, polkas, mazurkas, polonaises, and other social dances are well represented in the old books. Distinctly Finnish dances included are the jenkka, humppa, and the Finnish version of 'tango.' As a part of the amateur brass band movement in Finland, such prominent composers as Sibelius and Madetoja contributed concert repertoire, and numerous transcriptions were made of standard orchestral music. Many of the concert pieces for brass septet were commissioned to be performed at large national music festivals. During the past decade, when the Finnish septet has been enjoying a revival, modern Finnish composers and arrangers have contributed many new works to the septet.