New album MI out now on Alba Records!
→ Purchase MI CD, LP & digital on Bandcamp
→ Stream/download MI on digital platforms
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 large-scale drawing
1. Micranthes stellaris (Aino Peltomaa)
2. Karitas / Jää (Leinikille) (Hildegard von Bingen / Aino Peltomaa)
3. Mieli meni / Hodie aperuit (Aino Peltomaa / Hildegard von Bingen)
4. Uniflora (Aino Peltomaa / Vappu Rossi / Tuomas Norvio)
5. Stabat mater dolorosa (Graduale Romanum)
6. Stabat mater (Graduale Romanum)
7. Sicut spinarum (Bridgettine chant)
8. Diabolus sylvarum (Aino Peltomaa)
9. Tuutulaulu pikkulehdokille (Aino Peltomaa)
10. O frondens virga (Hildegard von Bingen)
11. Käärmeen luku / Latuit in blando (Trad. / Bridgettine chant)
12. O viridissima virga (Hildegard von Bingen)
13. Virta (Aino Peltomaa)