Heikki Klemetti in Profile

by Kimmo Korhonen :: 2000

Heikki Klemetti (Kuortane, February 14, 1876 - Helsinki, August 26, 1953) was one of the pioneers of Finnish choral music. He is perhaps best remembered as an active choir conductor, who conducted several leading Finnish choirs in the course of his career, which spanned half a century. He was also a choir educator, an organizational activits and an acerbic writer on music. Although his output as a composer consists largely of choral works, he also wrote a sizable body of solo songs.

Klemetti’s most important choir was the Suomen Laulu mixed choir, which he founded in 1900. It was originally a male voice choir, but in 1907 Klemetti expanded it into a mixed choir, and it was in this guise that it rose to the top of its field in Finnish music. It not only performed Finnish music but brought major foreign works from across the centuries to Finnish audiences. Suomen Laulu also undertook nine foreign tours, presenting Finnish choral singing across Central Europe.

Klemetti wrote about music as a critic, an essayist and a historian. He was a ruthless critic, and his reviews often sparked controversy. His two-volume history of music is one of his major literary works, but he also wrote fiction, memoirs and works on church construction. Klemetti was an ardent Nationalist, which is reflected in his writings.


Choral music expert

Although Klemetti was a major figure in the development of Finnish choral music, his compositions have been largely neglected after his death. Some of them have remained in the core repertoire, though, particularly the profoundly Nationalist Oi kallis Suomenmaa (O precious Finland). Klemetti wrote over 100 minor choral works; in style, they are traditional or consciously archaic, although they have moments of unconventional harmonic writing. Being an active choir conductor and choral educator, Klemetti was well acquainted with the potential of choral singing, and many of his works are quite demanding for the performers.

Apart from his choral works, Klemetti wrote about 60 solo songs and a handful of instrumental works, including marches for various ensembles. Klemetti also wrote a great many arrangements, the most popular of which are adaptations of old Piae cantiones tunes, a further testimony to his interest in early vocal music.


Translation © Jaakko Mäntyjärvi