Cantinovum Chamber Choir is the representative choir of JAMK University of Applied Sciences in Jyväskylä, Finland. Many of its approximately 30 singers are students at JAMK or the University of Jyväskylä. A distinctive feature of Cantinovum is its commitment to performing music written especially for the choir. The first three works on the Lauteilla EP – On the Threshold of Winter in a Lakeside Sauna, Saunavihdat and Tule nyt löylyhyn, Jumala – were all composed for Cantinovum.

Inspired by Rita Varonen, the choir has commissioned dozens of works from composers around the world. Cantinovum also nurtures musical talent within its own ranks, with singers going on to become conductors, lyricists and composers. On the Lauteilla EP, one work features lyrics written by a choir member, while another was composed by a member of the choir.

Lauteilla brings together traditional and contemporary poetry, offering a glimpse into Finnish sauna culture through choral music. The music takes listeners on a journey to the very heart of the sauna. What does the sauna mean to us?

For Cantinovum, the sauna is a place that both uplifts and calms the spirit, its warmth inviting us to slow down and savour the moment. The sauna is associated with peaceful rituals of cleansing and renewal. We emerge feeling refreshed, ready to face the outside world with a sense of warmth and purity. Lauteilla is Cantinovum’s invitation to pause amid the demands of everyday life and relax for a while, immersed in the comforting warmth of the sauna.

Our journey to the sauna benches begins with Saunavihdat. The poem by Maija Konttinen was published in 1938, and the music was composed by Veli Martin Keitel, who conducted the work as part of his choral conducting degree examination.

The second commissioned work, On the Threshold of Winter in a Lakeside Sauna, is by German composer Pascal Martiné. It is the third piece Martiné has written at the request of our conductor, and these works have been published by the renowned music publisher Schott. The lyrics were written by Matti Kortet, a long-standing member of the choir who now studies composition. This wistful, contemplative piece captures a moment in a lakeside sauna as autumn gives way to winter. It also inspired Cantinovum to create its very first music video.

Tule nyt löylyhyn, Jumala (Come into the Sauna, O God) was composed by Saima Haapanen (formerly Hyökki). The work skilfully combines contemporary rhythms with a traditional text, drawing on a Kalevala-style poem in which Väinämöinen heats the sauna for God himself.

In the final two works, the sauna itself becomes a sacred space. Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Saunarukous (Sauna Prayer) sets a traditional text that invites the Virgin Mary to join us in the warmth of the sauna.

The EP concludes with Haltian herätys (Awakening the Spirit), composed by Juhani Komulainen to an enchanting text by Irene Malm. The poem tells of a spirit awakened from its slumber on the benches of a smoke sauna – awakened with such force that, in the end, every log of the sauna itself comes alive!