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01. Symphony No. 17 “Joy of Life” I. Attempts. Andantino
02. Symphony No. 17 “Joy of Life” II. Sorrow. Largamente
03. Symphony No. 17 “Joy of Life” III. Strength. Robusto. Con spirito
04. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” I. Rose. Andante
05. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” II. Daugavpils 1915-Banishment. Allegretto
06. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” IIIa. 5 Variations on an Own Theme. Theme. Pensieroso
07. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” IIIb. 5 Variations on an Own Theme. Var. 1
08. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” IIIc. 5 Variations on an Own Theme. Var. 2, Lento
09. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” IIId. 5 Variations on an Own Theme. Var. 3
10. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” IIIe. 5 Variations on an Own Theme. Var. 4, Sostenuto
11. Symphony No. 18 “Daugavpils” IIIf. 5 Variations on an Own Theme. Var. 5

Fridrich Bruk – born in Kharkov in 1937 and a Finnish resident since 1974 – made his name as a composer of tangos. But the heart of his music lies in a series of eighteen symphonies, which have a strong narrative element, some reflecting Jewish themes, others inspired by Karelia and Finland. Symphony No. 17, Joy of Life (which Bruk also calls a ‘Concerto-Symphony for Orchestra and Piano’), has an autobiographical programme charting, in abstract terms, Bruk’s surmounting of the obstacles fate put in his path. Symphony No. 18 takes as its starting point a Latvian-Jewish folksong it is premised on the deportation of his grandparents from their Latvian home, in an anti-Semitic campaign by Tsarist Russia that Bruk sees as a kind of prologue to the Holocaust.