This CD takes you to a misty river meandering through the fields adjacent to a bog. This is a site traditionally greatly favored by Curlews (Numenius arquata). Here a Nordic spring night is full of magical mellow light. So even before break of dawn, birds start their courtship rituals and singing. There is a Black Grouse (Lyrurus tetrix) lek in the fields. The hypnotic, mesmerizing sounds of their tournament merge with the flow of the shallow river.

The air is filled and resonating with the strange, mystical hissings and sighings of the displaying black cocks. Majestic Cranes (Grus grus) are dancing far away on the bog letting their far-carrying trumpets sound their springtime joy. By the river a small wading bird, a Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus), stops momentarily. Bobbing its tail, it shortly pipes with his cheerful, high pitched ringing voice.

But above all, as a crown over all, a pair of sickle-billed curlews set out to display their lovely flute-like music. There, on the both sides of the river, are nesting curlew pairs. You may hear how males are rivalling with each other in their territorial flights, and how, on the other hand, mates are intercommunicating with one another. The moment is full of the springtime passion of Nature, and aptly it has its climax in a mating ritual of the Curlew pair heard far from the riverside, at the end of the recording.

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CURLEWSCAPES is a unique series of authentic nature recordings. As the title suggests, they focus on the Curlew’s song, regarded as the soul of a soundscape by the author. The recordings have been made primarily in Finland, but in other countries too. Each recording has its own unique theme, like an aural landscape painting, with different views and mood, colours and atmosphere.

These idyllic pastoral scenes take the listener on pleasant and relaxing mental journeys to the countryside and beyond. My common sense has always said to me that man was originally created to live in paradise here on earth. So listening to the glorious sounds of God’s Creation has given me glimpses, a gentle touch, of that original state of man and the planet ”as it was in the beginning.” These are some lovely moments spent in paradise.

These, my own recordings, are just for that. May they convey to you, the listener some beautiful moments, moments in paradise, in the midst of your everyday life.