New album MI out now on Alba Records!
An Exploration of the Boundary Between the Living and the Non-Living
The name MI refers to the Arctic flower Micranthes stellaris, and to Peltomaa’s composition Mieli
meni (“And so the Mind Went”). MI is also the third note of the Gamut scale (ut, re, mi).
The theme of the album is Arctic endangered flowers and the mental states that sprout from them.
In addition to the flower-themed compositions by the powerful medieval women Hildegard von
Bingen and Birgitta Birgersdotter, Aino Peltomaa’s compositions and lyrics bring together the
intangible and tangible eras of our living environment, our home. Lost, rediscovered. Destroyed,
vanished, rescued.
On this album Peltomaa and Ensemble Gamut! have invited two guests: sound artist Tuomas
Norvio and visual artist Vappu Rossi. Through their contributions we get to enjoy new possibilites
of live electronics on this release. Norvio manipulates the sounds of Vappu Rossi’s drawing in real
time, merging melodies and drawings inspired by Arctic flowers into a soundscape where the
planes of time, the living, the dead, history, the present moment, the past and the future all
resonate simultaneously.
Release date: 23/05/2025
Recorded by Jyri Sariola at Mimix Studios, Espoo, Finland, October 2024
Mixed and mastered by Jyri Sariola at Mimix Studios, November/December 2025
Produced by Aino Peltomaa
Cover art: Vappu Rossi’s works of art Stellaris glacialis and Anthozoa bryobionta, which were created during the rehearsal of Ensemble Gamut!’s FLOS project in the spring of 2024
Cover design: Aarni Ylinen
Photography: Anna-Maria Viksten
Ensemble Gamut!
Aino Peltomaa | voice, medieval harp,
kantele, percussion, artistic direction
Ilkka Heinonen | jouhikko, voice, electronics
Juho Myllylä | blockflutes, voice, electronics
Tuomas Norvio | live electronics
Vappu Rossi | live drawing on acoustic wall
- Micranthes stellaris (Aino Peltomaa)
- Karitas / Jää (Leinikille) (Hildegard von Bingen / Aino Peltomaa)
- Mieli meni / Hodie aperuit (Aino Peltomaa / Hildegard von Bingen)
- Uniflora (Aino Peltomaa / Vappu Rossi / Tuomas Norvio)
- Stabat mater dolorosa (Graduale Romanum)
- Stabat mater (Graduale Romanum)
- Sicut spinarum (Bridgettine chant)
- Diabolus sylvarum (Aino Peltomaa)
- Tuutulaulu pikkulehdokille (Aino Peltomaa)
- O frondens virga (Hildegard von Bingen)
- Käärmeen luku / Latuit in blando (Trad. / Bridgettine chant)
- O viridissima virga (Hildegard von Bingen)
- Virta (Aino Peltomaa)
Press
Ensemble Gamut!’s music is an amazing example of the merging and blending of different genres. Aino Peltomaa’s compositions, early music as well as traditional Finnish and electronic music merge together and intertwine with each other in dazzling brilliance like aurora borealis, with breathing hues of color, with sparkling joy. The music dances, rock’roll’s, touches and enchants the soul.
Ensemble Gamut!:in musiikki on upea esimerkki eri musiikkigenrejen sulautumisesta toisiinsa niin, että genrerajat häviävät. Aino Peltomaan sävellykset, vanha musiikki sekä perinteinen suomalainen ja elektroninen musiikki soljuvat yhdessä ja toistensa lomassa kuin revontulen loimotus, välillä hentoina värivivoina, välillä räiskyvänä ilotteluna. Musiikki tanssii, rokkaa, sivelee ja ravistelee sielua.
– Arja Kangasniemi / Kansanmusiikki-lehti (3/2025)
Mi is a moment of calm in the midst of a world that’s mostly too busy for such things.
– Jon Davis / Expose Online (28.09.2025)
If Hildegard von Bingen had lived in the age of prog, rock and electronica, perhaps this is the album she would have created: this is music with very modern sensibilities played on medieval instruments.
Central to the project is the captivating voice of Aino Peltomaa, whose enchanting vocals in a combination of Latin and her native Finnish carry the listener through a range of musical textures from synthesised drones to lively melodic interplay. Peltomaa has created this music with a strong ecological conscience; in dedicating the album to Arctic endangered flowers, she fittingly taps into both floral imagery from medieval literature and very contemporary issues with the extinction of plant life.
– Finn Collinson / The Recorder Magazine (Autumn 2025)
MI is an album that, in exploring the boundaries between the living and the non-living, offers space both for transience and fragility, as well as for timelessness and vitality.
– Edvin Hofman / Written in Music (16.08.2025)
The latest release MI by Ensemble Gamut! demonstrates that elements from medieval music, electronic soundscapes, and folk music can be melted into a most fascinating whole. This time, the focus is on the endangered flowers of the Arctic, the roots of which grow thirteen distinct, multi-layered pieces.
Ensemble Gamut! masterfully blends “the sounds of the earth, coiled into the roots” with a magical touch.
Ensemble Gamut! vapauttaa oivalla otteellaan taianomaisen hienosti ”maan äänet, kertomukset juuriin kietoutuneet”.
– Jari Hoffrén / Keskisuomalainen (12.08.2025)
The characteristic of Ensemble Gamut’s class is their unique sound. The result is a kind of artistic mysticism, combining the timeless relevance of Hildegard von Bingen’s work with contemporary art in the broadest sense. Aino’s singing blends perfectly with the instruments and added electronic sounds. The final effect is as fascinating as it is coherent. The story of Gamut! begins its journey in the darkness of the Middle Ages and takes us to a sonic universe beyond time and space.
Cechą świadczącą o klasie zespołu jest ich unikalne brzmienie. W efekcie mamy do czynienia ze swego rodzaju artystycznym mistycyzmem, łączącym nieprzemijającą aktualność twórczości Hildegardy z Bingen z szeroko rozumianą sztuką współczesną. Śpiew Aino idealnie komponuje się z instrumentami i dodanymi dźwiękami elektronicznymi. Końcowy efekt jest tyleż fascynujący co spójny. Opowieść Gamut! rozpoczyna swoją podróż w mrokach średniowiecza i przenosi nas do dźwiękowego wszechświata poza czasem i przestrzenią.
– Robert Majewski / W Kulturalny Sposóby (20.06.2025)
All in all, a beautiful, conceptual CD built up to a climax (Stabat mater dolorosa), on which Ensemble Gamut! shows more and more courage in terms of performance practice in comparison with the two previously released titles.
Al met al een mooie, naar een climax (Stabat mater dolorosa) opgebouwde, conceptuele cd waarop Ensemble Gamut! qua uitvoeringspraktijk steeds meer lef toont in vergelijking tot de eerdere twee uitgebrachte titels.
– Els van Swol / 8weekly (20.06.2025)
MI has all the makings of an album of the year, it’s just hard to pick a category. But genres are there to be broken. The music resonates hope and faith in life, despite everything “Life flows through me – O viridissima virga”, and the best place to be is in the life-giving embrace of Mother Earth.
MI-levyllä on kaikki edellytykset vuoden levyksi, kategoriaa vain on hankala valita. Mutta genret ovat olemassa rikottavaksi. Musiikki värähtelee toivoa ja uskoa elämään, kaikesta huolimatta ”Elämä virtaaa lävitseni – O viridissima virga”, ja paras paikka on äiti maan uutta luova syli.
– Marja Mustakallio / Kulttuuritoimitus (18.06.2025)