THE WORLD LOVES MOOMIN

The Moomintrolls have conquered millions of hearts around the world ever since Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson (1914-2001) released her first Moomin children's book in 1945.

THE MOOMINTROLLS AND MOOMIN VALLEY

Moomintroll is a kind little creature, who lives with his father Moominpappa and mother Moominmamma in the Valley of the Moomins. Moomintrolls have become a huge success with their individualistic characters, sophisticated humor, and deep sense of freedom. Although Jansson's works have gained worldwide popularity among children, the Moomintrolls are also much appreciated by adults due to a universal message, which can be felt on numerous levels and depths.

TEXT, ILLUSTRATIONS, MUSIC

In the Moomin stories, Tove Jansson achieved a perfect balance between text and illustrations. Songs by Erna Tauro and lyrics by Jansson became the core for Moomin music in the 1950's and 60's on the theater stage. However, in the course of international success – most notably on the TV screen in the 80's and 90's – this original music was replaced by commercial pop music, where the very basic characteristics of the Moomins could not be recognized. Luckily, many of the original songs remained as stand-alone favorites, but were seldom featured in their original context.

ORIGINAL AESTHETICS

When Tove Jansson passed away in June 2001, composer and pianist Mika Pohjola was determined to correct the mistakes in favor of the author's aesthetics. Pohjola devoted the entire year 2002 on studies in the forgotten songbook, and released the Swedish version of Moomin Voices in early 2003. A Finnish subsequent version was released in 2005.

MOOMIN VOICES

Moomin Voices is the first recording of the entire Moomin songbook. These classic and some previously unreleased songs by Tove Jansson feature new arrangements performed by vocals, strings, flutes, recorder, piano, vibes, bass and percussion.

"The deep meaning under Tove Jansson's children's stories, which unites families from the baby to the grandmother to love the Moomintrolls, is a true treasure in this world. This aesthetics was the core for my work on Moomin Voices as the music director and arranger," Pohjola comments.

Moomin Voices is dedicated in memory of the genius artist and author, Tove Jansson.