As Principal Bassoon in the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Harri Ahmas (b. 1957) is one of Finland’s most highly regarded orchestral musicians. But he is also the composer of a substantial body of music, including four symphonies, eight concertos, much chamber music and a generous number of works for wind band. Some grandiose and powerful music for organ is threaded through his composing career, too, much of it composed for the musician who plays it here, Jan Lehtola. Coincidentally, Dr Lehtola, Finland’s leading concert organist, is a native of Lahti, the industrial town inland from Helsinki brought to international prominence by the Sibelius recordings it made under its former chief conductor Osmo Vänskä – who is a Patron of Toccata Classics.
