The music of Unno Klami (1900-1961)

[DennisS]

I recently came across a cd of works by Unno Klami in a second hand shop in London and bought the cd on the offchance that the music would be interesting. The cd contains 3 works, Karelian Rhapsody, Kalevala Suite (as per the liner notes his most famous work) and Sea Pictures. Listening to the music, I was very pleasantly surprised. His music is post-Sibelius (another of my favourite composers) and in the above works, there are references to Ravel (in particular Bolero). I liked the music so much that I have since researched this composer further and found out that there is quite a lot of his work available. Listening to sound bites, I have as a result ordered his two symphonies. Do other members know this composer and what do they think of his music.

Cheers
Dennis

[Pengelli]

I remember hearing some music by Klami on R3 years ago,and being quite impressed by it. I think it was either the 'Kalevala Suite'(?),or his 'Sea Pictures'. Like allot of Finnish composers of his generation he spent years trying to escape the shadow of Sibelius and assimilate the influence of his contemporaries into his own individual style. I believe he succeeded in the end. Either way,judging by recent reviews his star seems to be on the rise again. Erkki Melartin had similar problems,but managed to form his own style and an ,apparently,very impressive and underated cycle of symphonies,although I am only really familiar with his sixth,parts of which are reminiscent of Gliere, in his 'Ilya Murometz' legendary & 'Red Poppy' vein. Impressive stuff!

[TerraEpon]

Klami's a BIT of a hit of miss for me -- I believe I have two discs of him.
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=6374&name_role1=1&comp_id=34243&bcorder=15&label_id=19 -- which has a piece about Lamminkainen among others.
And http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Drilldown?name_id1=6374&name_role1=1&bcorder=1&comp_id=210945 (unfortunately OOP and only an ArkivCD now) which has the very wonderful first symphony.

[Pengelli]

You've got more than me. I haven't any Klami in my collection at all,but I can remember that one piece,so it must  have had something going for it,I suppose. I'm not so keen on that kind of music these days. I find it   too opressive & introspective,and I have never been keen on that 'impressionistic' type music,anyway, ie Ravel & Debussy,for example. I would rather listen to the symphonies of Tournemire,Ropartz,Magnard,D'indy Roussel, Koechlin or Florent Schmitt,any day!. In fact,the obsession of certain conductors & musicians with Ravel & Debussy,at the expense of these equally fine  composers is both frustrating & very sad. Either way,,my cds of Ravel & Debussy hardly ever seem to come out of the 'box'! Personally,if I really want some 'impressionistic' music that badly',I prefer Bax,or even,Cyril Scott's spin on it,especially late at night. Incidentally,I enjoyed the recent cd of chamber music by Cyril Scott. The first piece on the cd , his Piano Trio No1 (1920),lasting around 33 minutes,is unusually outgoing and warm hearted for the composer;and I would recommend the disc,and particularly,the first piece, to anyone who tends to avoid Cyril Scott as being too chromatic and,as I put it, introspective. (Incidentally, I'm not referring to 'impressionism' in the literal sense of the term, just that style of music).

[Pengelli]

Incidentally,Karlowicz strikes me as a sort of Polish counterpart to Klami in terms of the sort of music he wrote, ie turbulent & impressionistic. I would loved his music when I was young!!!

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Apologies, Dennis, I meant to have left you a note sooner. Klami is hardly a romantic composer - and certainly not an unsung one! He is much performed in Finland, and the music has been often recorded. There are some super CDs on both BIS and Ondine (conductors such as Vanska, Kantorow, Oramo, Ollila). Most of the 40 odd works are shortish: thus between different labels you're going to acquire duplicates galore! Whatever you do, on no account miss the Vn Concerto - wonderful work! Highly regarded in Finland is the Psalmus of 1936, but that only seems to be available in an older recording by Soderblom on Finlandia (hard to find). I find Klami exciting stuff. He studied under Melartin and then Ravel (touches of both in his music). The music is also thoroughly suffused with the spirit of Finnish folklore and nationalism, but then he so transforms the latter that he can't be called a straightforward nationalistic composer. As far as I know there is no chamber music - or songs for that matter. He started a ballet (Whirls), but left it incomplete. Thus, apart from Psalmus & a few other things, nearly all the music is orchestral. Enjoy it! I suspect we'll attract a 'tut, tut' for gossiping about Klami on a site largely devoted to unsung romantic composers! If you want to explore more Finnish music do try Leevi Madetoja, Kokkonen, Kilpinen, Rautavaara and Englund. All of them stand under the shadow of Sibelius. And careful of the bank balance! Best wishes to you.

[DennisS]

Hi Peter
I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds Klami's music exciting. I'm also pleased to learn that he is not "unsung". For me, at least, I didn't know him at all prior to discovering a cd of his music by chance. Thank you for all your good advice on his music. I already had his symphony no 2, and today received symphony no 1 + King Lear Overture. In addition, I have been listening to sound bites of most of the works available and his vc is already on my want list! You seem to be on my wavelength as regards certain composers. If you look at the threads on "Unsungs", you will see that I opened new threads on both Melartin (superb, especially the vc!!!!) and Englund (terrific!). I have on cd nearly all of their works and just by coincidence, was today listening again  to Englund's 4th symphony with its echos of Shostokovich! I also have all the Madetoja symphonies and several cds from Rautavaara. Rautavaara though, does not appeal to me as much as the others. I don't know either Kokkonen or Kilpinen but will now investigate these 2 composers further. I'm also a huge admirer of Sibelius! I know exactly what you mean re-the bank balance!!! Thanks again for your good advice.

Dennis

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Hello again, Dennis. We clearly have more in common than sagging bank balances! Re my posting yesterday, I hastily scribbled 'Kilpinen' when in fact I meant to refer to '(Jouni) Kaipainen'. I certainly don't withdraw the nomination of the former: but he was a Finn with a limited worklist, almost all of it devoted to some often quite beautiful and wistful songs. No, in company with others on the list. Kaipainen is your man. A contemporary composer (b.1956, and hence far younger than me). A few very tempting CDs around, but then he's composed far far more than has been recorded thus far. There's a nice, but limited, article on him on the invaluable Finnish Music Information Centre. And finally, not for anything, would I do without Kaija Saariaho. But I'm sure you know of her.

Apologies for confusing Kilpinen and Kaipainen. Either are a lot more fun than poor old Grechaninov!

Kind regards,

Peter

[DennisS]

Hi Peter

There is absolutely no need to apologise for Kilpinen/Kaipainen. I have made a number of typing errors on "Unsungs" and all I will say is that it is very easily done. As a result of your advice yesterday, I have already looked up both Kokkonen and Kilpinen. I did wonder though why you cited Kilpinen. All I found was a single cd of some of his Lieder. I also read on Wikipedia that he is very famous for the afore-mentioned Lieder, so I will perhaps investigate him further in due course. Kokkonen seems very interesting. I have already listened to sound bites of all his symphonies plus some orchestral works. Of his 4 symphonies and going merely on the sound bites (which can be very misleading!), I have a preference for symphony no 4. I thought I would start there.Which of the 4 symphonies is your favourite? Again, I have to profess my ignorance in not knowing either Kaipainen or Kaija Saariaho. However, I am going to research both of these composers as well. I will also look up the Finnish Music Information Centre. Many thanks for the info. I do not want to think about how many cds I might want to buy!!!

cheers
Dennis

[Marcus]

Hello,
I am glad that Errki Melartin got a mention here. I think his six symphonies are as good as any written in Finland. (excluding Sibelius).Like his fellow composers, he was overshadowed by Sibelius, and how hard it must have been to get a performance of their works,when Sibelius was the fashion. Composers during, and after Beethoven's reign, were similarly affected, and I am sure there are many manuscripts out there, yet to see the light of day.
The Melartin symphonies (written 1902-1924),are all different, written in a pleasant late romantic/neo classical idiom, and the Violin Concerto is superb. Madetoja is also underated.
Marcus.

[Alan Howe]

Kilpinen wrote a Cello Sonata which is an undoubted masterpiece. It is available on the ClassicO label:

http://www.cdklassisk.dk/product_info.php?products_id=446

[DennisS]

Hello Petershott

I am turning into a keen admirer of Klami's music! I am awaiting delivery of the vc (due any day now) and yesterday received the cd of his works for piano and strings. I listened to this cd this morning and was very taken with his second piano concerto. Reminded me strongly of Prokofiev in places (in particular Prokofiev's war sonatas!). As readers of this forum know, I love Prokofiev's music, so it is no surprise that Klami's pc was so appealing to me. This led me to a detailed search on the internet for Klami's pc number 1 "Une nuit à Montmartre". Sadly, I found no trace of this work on cd. I have sent an email to proarts.fi asking them about this work but I wondered in the meantime whether you were familiar with this work and might know if it is available somewhere? I would very much appreciate any info you can give me.

Cheers
Dennis

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Hello again, Dennis,

I bring disappointment! There was a recording (about 10 years ago?) of the Op 41 Concerto for Piano & Strings. I remember it as being on Finlandia. Possibly it is this recording you've now acquired? If so, happy man, for I don't have it. And as far as I know, the early first pf concerto has never been recorded. Maybe all we can do is exercise patience: both BIS and Ondine seem to have been working through Klami's works in recent years, and maybe (hopefully soon!) one of them might record the work. Sorry - that's a bit of a forlorn response.

The only compensation I can offer is that when you get the Violin Concerto you'll go about with a smile on your face and renewed vigour in your stride - I liked this work very much indeed.

Best wishes to you,

Peter

[petershott@btinternet.com]

A postscript, Dennis.

After I posted the last message to you I had a kind of eureka moment, and wondered if you had encountered Gosta Nystroem? He was a Swedish composer who died in 1966 (and hence just a few years from Klami). Terrific stuff in my humble view. There are 6 symphonies and a number of concertante works. If you've got Klami into your bloodstream, you'll certainly enjoy Nystroem.

Peter

[DennisS]

Hi Peter

Re- Klami, Opus 41 is indeed the cd that I have, i.e. pc number 2. Please note that the cd is readily available on both Amazon and JPC (Finlandia Records) and is reasonably priced. Thanks for replying to my previous post. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I get a positive reply to my email to infoarts.fi. They came back to me earlier today"out of office - back Monday"! Re - Nystroem, like the other composers you mentioned, I don't know him either but I have listened to sound bites on Amazon - symphonies 4 and 6, and symphonies 1 and 5. the other symphonies are listed but no sound bites. Seems symphony no 3 is perhaps his finest work?? symphonie del Mare. Also high praise given to the concertante work for cello (was compared to Prokofiev's cello work which I love!!). I listened to sound bites of this work as well but it was difficult to assess its work from the brief extracts I heard. I liked the extracts from sym 4 and 6. Hmmmmm..... more cds!!! Which works do you recommend?

Cheers
Dennis