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Uuno Klami

By Jussi Talsi

Introduction

Uuno Klami (1900 - 1961) is one of the most popular Finnish composers after Sibelius. These pages provide some information and my personal thoughts about his music. The main thing is the chronological work list with brief comments and links to the discography. Many minor compositions have been omitted from the work list, so if you are interested in a more complete listing, see the References below.

Klami was known for his fresh approach to traditional Finnish subjects. This reputation originated with the Karelian rhapsody (1927) and was confirmed by the Kalevala suite (1933/43). Other works with clearly Finnish roots - but often quite universal atmosphere - are the humorous overture called The cobblers on the heath, Karelian market place, and the unfinished ballet Whirls.

Klami's works for a solo instrument and orchestra include the Violin concerto, the first and second piano concertos, and two works for cello and orchestra: Cheremissian fantasy and Tema con 7 variazioni e coda.

Nature subjects are sometimes overlooked when it comes to Klami - this may be due to the supremacy of Sibelius in this field. But I would cautiously suggest that in their sublime evocation of nature Klami's Terhenniemi from the Kalevala suite and Aurora borealis challenge even Oceanides and Tapiola of Sibelius.

Even though orchestral music dominates Klami's output, one might argue that his most important work is the sacred oratorio Psalmus. Klami wrote also a smaller psalm: the biblical Psalm XI. Another vocal composition is Song of Lake Kuujärvi for baritone and orchestra. Two of these works have little pages of their own: Psalmus and Song of Lake Kuujärvi.

References

The main reference for the work list is the bilingual Uuno Klami, Teokset - Works (Finnish - English) by Tiina-Maija Lehtonen (Helsinki 1986, out-of-print). However, the little characterizations of the compositions are mostly mine, and I take full responsibility for all the inaccuracies there might be. (Please let me know of all the errors you find.)

The biography Uuno Klami, Elämä ja teokset by Kalevi Aho and Marjo Valkonen (WSOY, Helsinki 2000) is now the best source of information on Klami's life and music. It also includes an up-to-date work list with some recently found works. (However, a couple of small - lost? - works have been excluded.)

The issue 2/2000 of the magazine Finnish Music Quarterly contains a beautiful article on Klami by Helena Tyrväinen.

The booklets accompanying CDs may not always be among the most reliable sources of information, but Klami discs make an exception: the texts have often been written by distinguished scholars like Helena Tyrväinen and Erkki Salmenhaara.

The web site of the Finnish Music Information Centre or FIMIC is always a good place to visit, when it comes to Finnish music.

For those who read Finnish the following are indispensable:

A more general work is which is the third volume of the "History of Finnish Music".

The multilingual (Finnish - English - French) book

provides the proceedings of the first international Klami conference.

Index Work list Discography News
By Jussi Talsi
Published: 1997/08
Revised: 2003/11/22
My home page

Here are the key addresses written out for printouts:
this page: www.kolumbus.fi/justal/klami/
home page: www.kolumbus.fi/justal/