Kalevala Suite

Native nameKalevala-sarja

Catalogue23

Based onKalevala (Runos I–II, X, XV)

Composed1930 (1930)–1933, rev. 1934, 1943

Kalevala Suite
Tone pictures by Uuno Klami
The composer (c. 1930)
Native name	Kalevala-sarja
Catalogue	23
Based on	Kalevala (Runos I–II, X, XV)
Composed	1930 (1930)–1933, rev. 1934, 1943
Publisher	Fazer Music [fi] (1951)
Duration	30 minutes
Movements	5 (originally 4)
Premiere
Date	10 February 1933 (1933-02-10)
Location	Helsinki, Finland
Conductor	Georg Schnéevoigt
Performers	Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra

The Kalevala Suite (in Finnish: Kalevala-sarja), Op. 23, is a five-movement concert suite for orchestra written from 1930 to 1933 by the Finnish composer Uuno Klami and based upon Runos I–II, X, and XV of the Kalevala, Finland's national epic. The original version of the suite, which was in four movements, dissatisfied the composer because its lack of central scherzo made the work seem imbalanced. His first attempt at revision came in 1934 with Lemminkäinen's Island Adventures (Lemminkäisen seikkailut saaressa; based on Runo XXIX) as Movement III, but its considerable length presented a new problem, causing Klami to withdraw it from the suite and make it an independent work.^[1][2] In 1943, he again revised the Kalevala Suite, adding Terhenniemi as the new scherzo.

Klami sought to approach the Kalevala from a perspective that would differ that of Jean Sibelius, his predecessor, whom he thought had "reigned supreme in the domain";^[3] Sibelius's notable Kalevala-themed works include the tone poems The Swan of Tuonela, Pohjola's Daughter, and Tapiola.