What’s Happening in Finland: the Finnish Clarinet Ensemble

by Margaret Thornhill

Mr. Antti Nuorivuori was about to practice clarinet—in his sauna.

Did I hear that right? Lest you wonder if this is some universal Finnish custom, the genial Chairman of the Finnish Clarinet Society and spokesperson for the Finnish Clarinet Ensemble explains that his family banished him there “when I was 10” and beginning on E-flat clarinet, but it became a lifelong habit.

And just in case you wondered, the heat is not on: “in sauna, is hot enough practicing clarinet!”

The Finnish Clarinet Society—Suomen Klarinettiseura, parent organization of the Finnish Clarinet Ensemble (which is known internationally by its English name)—was founded in 1980 to support clarinet education and performance throughout the country—and judging by recorded performances of the Finnish Clarinet Ensemble, they’ve been highly successful! The two CD’s of the FCE feature some of the finest clarinet choir playing I’ve ever heard, a beautiful blended sound (resulting from a strongly matched tonal concept) and superb intonation. This high level of playing seems only fitting for a country that was the birthplace of one of the greatest clarinet virtuosi of all time, Bernhard Crusell (1775-1838).

The FCE was founded in 1983 by clarinetist Kullervo Kojo, (soloist on their first CD, now principal with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra), and premiered as an ensemble of eight. The distinguished Finnish clarinetist-conductor, Osmo Vänskä, now conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony, was also an original member of this group, and conductor on their first CD.  The Society has now grown to 200 members, and many of these play in the FCE, which is now a large group: 17 to nearly 40 players drawn from an even larger flexible membership.

Unlike many regional clarinet ensembles in other countries, members of the FCE come from different cities. Participation in projects is carefully arranged in advance. Qualified Society members volunteer to participate in a particular project, depending on dates and location. Projects might include recordings, festivals, or tours, and performances at the annual Society meeting, which takes place in different Finnish cities each September. Parts are transmitted by internet. Participating clarinetists are professionals, students, and amateurs who often have conservatory training but work in other professions. Rehearsal for a performance or recording is usually crowded into a short period, another fact which speaks highly for the musicianship and discipline of these players. Mr. Nuorivuori writes:

“This demands great responsibility from every clarinetist, but it works. We have a good, ambitious tradition thanks to Osmo Vänskä. For example, in 1992, FCE had the last rehearsal in Helsinki airport about 4 hours before the flight to Belgium ICA festival as well as our tour to Great Britain. In Belgium, the first rehearsal started in the hotel one hour after check-in.”

In addition to its performance projects, the FCE is very involved in clarinet education. The Society has a regular junior group, Claramania, (thirty to forty children, aged 10-16) in the Helsinki area. Junior activities are also organized for the Society meeting:

“During the last two years, we had in our clarinet weekend a special junior clarinet choir organized by teachers from the local conservatory or school. In Tampere City, September 2007, there were nearly 50 clarinet students age 10-15 on stage, and they played two first performances (of music) composed specially for this occasion, directed by Mr. Kari Pekka Eskelinen, Ms. Eija Sarkimaki, and Ms. Marjo Aho (Note: these clarinetists are also members of the professional clarinet quartet Claros).The concert hall had a full house and I was almost crying to see the serious faces when we give a society sticker and a tiny wooden flower to keep in clarinet case as a memory.”

Recordings and Repertoire

The FCE considers its primary mission to encourage contemporary composers to write new music for clarinet ensembles. This has resulted in commissioned works by Jukka Tiensuu, Jukka Linkola, Osmo Vänskä, Markku Kopisto, Markus Fagerudd, Lasse Eerola, Petri Judin, and Herman Rehberger, among others.

A signature work from the FCE’s repertoire is Vento by Jukka Tiensuu, featured on the CD of the same title (VENTO, SKLAS-98).  The premiere, in 1995, was a joint performance with the British Clarinet Ensemble, on tour in Finland as guests of the FCE. The composer specifies large clarinet choir, with a minimum of 17 to 27 players: 12 sopranos (in six parts); 2 (preferably 4) basset horns; 2 (preferably 2) basses; and one (preferably 2) contrabass clarinet. The FCE has performed the work with 17 players and recorded it with 37.

Vento is a dramatic concept piece in three movements. The outer sections are marching music, to be playing while moving in and out of the concert area. The composer states that “it is also possible to use a vehicle (tram, truck, train, boat…) for the arrival/withdrawal of the players” (an option sure to please contrabass clarinetists!)  Both marches are composed in short repeated segments which alternate basses and sopranos in rhythmic riffs and high pitched wails. This dialogue, a central aspect of the work, is heightened by spatial separation. In a February, 2008, televised festival performance of Vento by the FCE at the Sibelius Academy, the altos and basses are seated on stage, and the sopranos process onstage and off while playing, leaving the basses alone again at the end. 

 In the episodic center movement, continually evolving passages of hocketed rhythmic counterpoint and undulating tremolandi suggest natural forces, to this listener, migratory geese and, (not surprisingly) rushing wind. Although a highly structured work, Vento captures the  improvisatory character of late 20th century aleatoric music while keeping all elements fully notated. Extended techniques include multiphonics; vibrato; glissandi; quarter tones; and a “whistling sound” performed by putting teeth on the reed. In addition, clarinets 1a and 2a need an extremely facile command of the altissimo to high B-flat. 

 At the time of writing, the telecast of the SibaFest could be viewed at: http://www2.siba.fi/sibatv and click on SIBAEST and Pohjanmaalta ikuisuuteen–concert (Real Player.)  Both CD and telecast (using different size groups) present excellent performances of a virtuosic work with definite edge and challenge. Parts are available from the Finnish Music Information Centre.

Also on the CD Vento are works by Petri Judin (b. 1969) a member of the FCE, whose Pour ‘lle sur C (1995) is scored for E-flat, clarinet 1,2,3,; alto/basset; bass; contrabass and double bass; and delightful arrangements of music by Sibelius and Crusell, including the Introduction et air Suedois with the remarkable Kari Krikku as soloist.

The CD is still available and can be ordered from the Society by emailing:   antti.nuovivuori@kymp.net

FCE’s first CD, (Finlandia Records, FACD 931, copyright Fazer Music, 1990) is sold out (copies may become available from time to time on internet resale sites.) This stunning recording is conducted by Osmo Vänskä, whose lyricism and élan are displayed in a handful of excellent arrangements by Japanese clarinetist Kazuhiro Morita, short original works by Finnish composers Atso Almila (A Mario) and Lasse Eerola (the atmospheric Scenes from Northern Carelia) as well as in his own Image for soprano voice and clarinet choir (with  Soile Isokoski, who also solos in the Krance arrangement of Villa Lobos Bachianas Brasilieras here.). 

The big-ticket work on this disc, the three-part Chalumeaux Suite by Jukka Linkola (b. 1955) features Kullervo Kojo as the soloist in the hauntingly beautiful middle movement.  This 13 1/2 minute work is scored for: solo E-flat clarinet, solo first B-flat clarinet, soprano clarinets 1-3; alto; basset (a separate part); bass, contrabass, and double bass ad libitum. A distinguished composer as well as a working jazz musician whose style has by his own admission been influenced by Stravinsky, Bartok, and Lutoslawski, Linkola has over 200 compositions in many idioms. In art music, he has written for opera, ballet, oratorio, wind band, orchestral and chamber music. As Kimmo Korhonen says: “He writes in a style akin to Neo-Classicism, although there is a Romantic dimension in his music too. His rhythms are often punchy and energetic, reminiscent of Stravinsky, while the Romantic element appears in his melodic writing, which in turn recalls Prokofiev or even film composer Bernard Herrmann.”

    All the expressive potential of the clarinet choir “sound” is captured in this gracefully tonal modern work, which we hope will become better known outside Finland.

 Copyright 2008, Margaret Thornhill. All Rights Reserved. A version of this article appeared in the March 2008 issue of The Clarinet.