Erik Bergman composed this work in 1984. It draws its text from two episodes in the Kalevala. In the music Bergman creates tension with a speech chorus, an element he first introduced in the Finnish choral music. The parts of Lemminkäinen and his mother are taken by the baritone and mezzo-soprano soloists and the narration is primarily entrusted to the speaker. The musical language is a blend of the primitive and the sophisticated. The climax of the work is the battle scene, entertaining in its ingenuity and artistry.
