Uuno KLAMI (1900-1961)
Northern Lights, Op.38 (1946) [18:49]
Cheremissian Fantasy, Op.19 (1931) [13:27]
Kalevala Suite, Op.23 (1943) [32:56]
Samuli Peltonen (cello)
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/John Storgärds
rec. 30 January, 2 February 2009 (Northern Lights; Kalevala) and
11 September 2009 (Fantasy), Finlandia Hall, Helsinki. DDD
ONDINE ODE1143-2 [65:25]
I did a quick survey of some of my musical friends. Firstly, “Name me
a Finnish composer?” Four out of five came up with the obvious - “Jean
Sibelius”. Secondly, “Name me another”. A blank was drawn.
And these were musically literate people. I threw in a few names - Einojuhani
Rautavaara, Aulis Sallinen, Leevi Madetoja and Selim Palmgren. One of the five
had heard of Rautavaara and his Canticus Arcticus and another had come
across the piano music of Palmgren. That was it.
I am not an expert on Finnish classical music and do not claim to know more
than a fraction of the music of this beautiful country. However, my interest
in Sibelius has led me to explore a few of these composers and their compositions.
Listeners may well be surprised just how interesting much of this music is.
Perhaps my two favourite discoveries are Leevi Madetoja and the composer of
the works on this disc, Uuno Klami.
It is not the place to give a biography of Klami, but perhaps a few key dates,
events and comments may be helpful for readers who are not familiar with him.
Uuno Klami was born in Virolahti on 20 September 1900. His family were merchants
and seafarers who travelled far and wide. It was the influence of this breadth
of experience and a developed cosmopolitan attitude that moulded Klami’s
musical personality. After an elementary education, the young man studied music
at the Helsinki Music Institute with Erkki Melartin, Paris with Florent Schmitt
and finally Vienna with Hans Gál. During his studies he met the great
and the good in European music possibly including Maurice Ravel who was to
have a major influence on his music. After many years of composing and fighting
in wars - he was a combatant in six of them - Uuno Klami died at his birthplace
aged 60. He was sailing his favourite boat ‘Mina’ at the time in
the Gulf of Finland.
Klami’s catalogue is considerable, with a wide range of compositions
including two piano concertos, three symphonies, a number of cantatas and a
wide range of descriptive pieces including Sea Pictures and the present Northern
Lights. Perhaps his most outré title is The Cyclist-Rondo for
Orchestra (1946). This is a piece of music I would love to hear!
Klami’s musical personality reflects his cosmopolitan upbringing. It
is possible to hear a wide variety of styles in his music. These include Russian
and Spanish colouring, jazz, Finnish folk music and Chinese melodies. The composers
that appear to have had most impact are Ravel and Stravinsky rather than the
towering figure of Sibelius. Two major influences on Klami are the sea and
the Finnish myths contained in the Kalevala. Although he sometimes explores ‘modernist’ musical
language, the general tenor of his works is romantic. The mechanics of composition
are well served - he is a superb orchestrator and has a good appreciation of
form. Every piece of his music that I have heard is compelling; it is never
long-winded and it never fails to hold the listener’s interest.
The three works presented on this disc make an excellent introduction to Klami’s
music. The earliest piece is the Cheremissian Fantasy for cello and
orchestra. This was composed in 1931 and represents the composer’s flirtation
with the ‘primitivism of the early 20th-century’ and
that genre’s most famous work, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
Klami was inspired to compose this piece after receiving two transcriptions
of folk tunes made by A.O. Väisänen, an ethno-musicologist. These
were from the Cheremis (now Mari) people who live on the northern reaches of
the Volga River. Scholars have indicated that Klami did not quote these tunes
or even use them as a direct source of musical material. It was more a case
of the composer absorbing the mood of the melodies and the rhythmic patterns.
This is perhaps the least ‘romantic’ of the pieces on this CD;
it has a certain economy and transparency of orchestration that gives the music
great clarity and poignancy.
The Fantasy is in two movements which are played without a break - a Lento,
molto tranquillo followed by a stunning Presto con Bravura. The contrast between
the melancholy of the first movement and the sheer hedonism of the Presto is
palpable. It is here that the influence of Stravinsky is most obvious. The Cheremissian
Fantasy is regarded as one of the most important concerted works for cello
in the Finnish music.
I had not heard the Revontulet or Northern Lights orchestral
fantasy before. This is the latest work on this CD and was composed after the
conclusion of the Second World War in 1946. The programme notes point out that
sketches were made for this work during the War, and that the work was developed
over a two and half year period. It is understood that Klami himself felt that
this ‘sea- music’ was his best work. Certainly it seems like a
summing up of his career and influences. The composer makes use of all the
orchestral styles that ‘he inherited from Berlioz, Chabrier, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Ravel and Stravinsky’.
Klami noted that ‘The northern lights can be much more than a superficial
play of colours in the sky. They can be an expression of the infinite loneliness
of the human spirit.’ This sums up the work well. It is not a comfortable
landscape that Klami creates, but one that is bleak and often menacing. Yet,
there are numerous flashes of light and not a little warmth introduced into
the score. I was impressed by the orchestration of this piece: it is a master-class
in the creation of colour and light and shade.
The Kalevala Suite is the best known of Klami’s works. These ‘Five
tone pictures’ for large orchestra are of near-symphonic length. The
music is based on the cycle of Finnish myths, the Kalevala. Sibelius used this
collection of national matter for a number of his tone poems such as Pohjola’s
Daughter, The Swan of Tuonela and the Kullervo Symphony.
The work was a long time in production. More than a decade was to pass from
the first suggestion by the conductor Robert Kajanus that Klami should consider
using these legends until the final score was produced in 1943. However, Kimmo
Korhonen (Naxos sleeve-notes 8.553757) has suggested that the first thoughts
about this music actually dated back to Klami’s first hearing of The
Rite of Spring in the mid-1920s in Paris.
There was always a danger this music would be overshadowed by those undoubted
masterpieces by Sibelius. So, he took a different approach. Instead of evoking ‘events’ and ‘personalities’ in
his tone poems he decided to eschew a programme and depict the mood and background
of the events. This music is much more about cosmology than history.
The opening music ‘The Creation of the Earth’ once again approaches The
Rite of Spring with its violence and musical energy. As the programme notes
suggest, the music moves from a ‘cold cosmic vision’ to a ‘brilliant
celebration of the creation of the planet’. However the second movement
could not be in greater contrast. Residing somewhere between the pastoral and
the impressionist this tone-picture is a near perfect evocation of the ‘Sprout
of Spring.’
The third movement - ‘Terhenniemi’ is the ‘scherzo’ movement
and is simply (actually complex music) a celebration of life and creation.
It is the quality of the orchestration that will first impress the listener
here. The music chatters and shimmers its way towards an outpouring of the
sounds of nature. This is summer’s day music in contrast to the previous
movement’s celebration of spring. It is surely one of the great ‘landscape’ pieces
of any age or country.
‘
The Cradle Song for Lemminkäinen’ is much darker music. In fact,
it seems to me to be more to do with death than a lullaby for a child. Yet
there is an indescribable, if somewhat austere beauty about this music that
does not quite depress the exuberant mood of the previous three movements.
The cor anglais solo adds to the gloom.
The finale is rip-roaring: few works can end with music quite so compelling
as ‘The Forging of the Sampo’. A Sampo is a magical artefact that
was supposed to bring good fortune to its owner. If the device was stolen it
would be the cause of great violence until recovered. All this is portrayed
in the music. Do not be misled by the quiet, misty opening: the music suddenly
opens out into a brilliant orgy of hammer-blows, sweeping strings and blaring
brass. Once again the influence of Stravinsky is felt here. The movement and
the Suite conclude in a positive, if rather scary manner. Erik Tawaststjerna
has summed up the Kalevala Suite well as being “the coalescing
of a spirit from original twilight to physical action”.
The sound quality of this Ondine disc is excellent. The music is played with
due attention to the wide variety of mood and styles from the more impressionistic
moments, through the complex scherzo-like music to the Wagnerian conclusion
of the Kalevala Suite and the disc. The soloist Samuli Peltonen makes
a major contribution with his well stated and sensitive performance in the Cheremissian
Fantasy.
The programme notes are excellent and provide sufficient information to understand
both composer and his music.
Uuno Klami is a name that is little known outside his native Finland. However
he is a composer that well deserves our attention. This disc serves as a fine
introduction to his music, with two of his most popular pieces alongside a
superb example of ‘sea-music’. I hope that it will encourage further
exploration.
John France
see also review by Rob Barnett (February
2010 Recording of the Month)