jmc's classics
I am always discovering new composers. For most people The music of Finland begins and ends with Jean Sibelius. Like Norwegian music with Grieg, Czech music with Dvorak and Mexican music with Chavez. There are many other great Finish composers. One such is Uuno Klami (1900-1961) I have an internet radio which I have finally hooked up. I have been listening to Vermont Public Radio (VPR). I recently heard one of his pieces. Some people may have considered him to be the successor to Sibelius. It is debatable.
He was born in the town of Virolahit near the Finnish Russian border. At that time Finland was a simi-autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Finland became independent in 1918. The Finish language is not part of the Indo-European language family, like English, French , German, Russian Etc. It is from the Urlaic language family which includes, Estonian, Hungarian and several other languages spoken mainly in parts of the former Soviet Union. Klami was influenced by French and Spanish music. He studied in Paris and Vienna. His music is nationalistic. Many of his compositions are related to the Kalevale epic. This was a 19th century of Finnish and Karelian poetry epic. He admired Ravel. Many of Sibelius' works are nationalistic in nature. He wrote two numbered symphonies. Both symphonies I have heard Via Youtube. He also wrote an earlier Symphonie Enfantine dating from 1927. He wrote two piano concertos and a violin concerto among his other works. I have checked Arkiv Music and unfortunately there are only 15 recordings available of his music. I hope that his music does become more popular in the future. There are many other finish composers who also need to be listened to!
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