Hang on to your stoicism. We’re headed for an epic “Finnish.” This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll conclude 2024 with a program of music inspired by movers and shakers of the “Kalevala.”
The “Kalevala,” a disparate collection of long narrative poems culled from the oral tradition, is frequently referred to as the Finnish national epic. Its fantastic and heroic tales informed the work of Finland’s greatest artists at a time when the country began to surge toward independence after 700 years of Swedish rule and an additional century as a duchy of the Russian Empire.
In a nod to Finnish endeavor, we’ll hear “Aino” by Robert Kajanus. Kajanus was Sibelius’ first great champion, who conducted first performances of many of the composer’s major works and led the Helsinki Philharmonic for 50 years. He also wrote over 200 pieces himself. “Aino” was composed in 1885 for the Kalevala Society, to mark the 50th anniversary of the poem’s publication.
The subject is the wizard Väinämöinen, one of the poems’ heroes, who always seems to be plagued by ill luck. In this particular tale, he wins a singing contest, plunging his rival, Joukahainen, into a swamp. When the latter promises the wizard his sister’s hand in marriage if Väinämöinen will save him from drowning, the sister, Aino, drowns herself rather than submit to this seemingly unbearable fate. She later returns to taunt the grieving Väinämöinen in the form of a salmon.
One of the most important Finnish composers after Sibelius was Uuno Klami. Klami brought a degree of French polish back from his studies in Paris, where he fell under the irreverent sway of Les Six. This led to the composition of an unusually anti-heroic take on the Kalevala legends, “Lemminkäinen’s Island Adventures.” However, in spite of his occasionally Gallic disposition, Klami grew into one of Finland’s most respected composers. Sibelius recognized his talent and even lobbied for a small lifetime income for Klami from the Finnish government.
Klami’s most ambitious Kalevala inspiration is his “Kalevala Suite,” of 1933, which he extensively revised ten years later, when this former “enfant terrible” recognized the importance of his role as an artist in a country at war. Unlike Sibelius’ better-known “Four Legends from the Kalevala,” Klami’s suite scrupulously sidesteps the heroes’ actual adventures. He opts instead to paint on a much broader canvas, with movements titled “The Creation of the Earth,” “The Sprout of Spring,” “Terhenniemi” (replete with the sounds of nature and the sunny bliss of a summer’s day), “Cradle Song for Lemminkäinen” (Lemminkäinen’s mother’s song, sung over his dead body, soon to be resurrected), and “The Forging of the Sampo” (a kind of talisman everyone seems to want).
Of course, no composer had more success drawing on the Kalevala legends than Jean Sibelius. We’ll conclude the hour with a Sibelius rarity, “A Song for Lemminkäinen,” from 1896. This follows on the heels of the composer’s “Lemminkäinen Suite” (also known as “Four Legends from the Kalevala”), written earlier in the decade.
I hope you’ll join me for this “Epic Finnish,” on The Lost Chord, now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!
Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday at 11:00 AM EST/8:00 AM PST
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!
