This recording offers a portrait of Leif Segerstam in the 1960s and 70s, before he became widely known as one of Scandinavia’s leading conductors. Alongside his celebrated career on the podium, Segerstam was and remains a prolific composer, with a distinctive voice rooted in free tonality, bold orchestral colors, and what he calls “free-pulsative” writing. The program spans key milestones: Patria (1973), a collage-like fantasia built on a Finnish hymn; Skizzen aus Pandora (1966), drawn from his first large-scale ballet; and the Concerto Serioso (1967), a farewell to his own life as a violinist. Also included are the youthful Divertimento (1962), echoing Bartók, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky, and Three Moments of Parting (1971–73), lyrical settings inspired by Walt Whitman’s Songs of Parting. Performed by the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra, and soloists Hannele Segerstam and Ralf Gothóni, this collection captures the inventiveness, intensity, and range of a composer who combines Finnish roots with a cosmopolitan modernist outlook.