Uuno Klami’s Second Symphony (1945) is very different in character from its predecessor (1938). The First, also recorded by these artists (3/96), is optimistic and outgoing in atmosphere; No. 2 is elusive, at times subdued, but with a harder-edged sound in its grander moments, undoubtedly reflecting the terrible events which took place in wartime Finland. Resonances of Sibelius are few, once the opening pages (which seem also fleetingly to look forward several decades to Sallinen) are done with, likewise of the French impressionists so close to the composer’s heart. Rather, it is Tchaikovsky who springs most often to mind, though there is a more generally ‘European’ feel to the music, and the final climax is pure Bax.
Expressively, Klami’s Second Symphony looks back to the nineteenth century, and formally is a little too rhapsodic for its own good. The serious demeanour of the first and third movements suggests that they were the product of some inner imperative, though quite what that was is a mystery. If Klami hoped the piece might prove a compositional ‘fresh start’ for post-war Finnish music, he was to be disappointed (that would only come with the premiere in 1947 of another ‘war’ symphony, Einar Englund’s lean-cut First).
The charming, Ravelian Symphonie enfantine (1928) does not make a really sufficient coupling, and at only 50 minutes the disc is a little ungenerous in duration. The performances are committed and very well played, as with No. 1, and the sound is clean and natural.'