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Markku Klami, photographed by Laura Karlin

Markku Klami

Composer

Emotive. Elegant. Unpredictable.

From cathedral choirs to ambient electronics and vivid orchestral textures, Finnish composer Markku Klami’s music bridges tradition and innovation—heard worldwide from New York to Taipei.

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His music embraces texture, silence, and emotional intensity, often blending acoustic instruments with electronics.

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Rooted in classical training and shaped by curiosity, his voice as a composer is both personal and quietly bold.

What others say

Klami’s expressive and at times breathtakingly beautiful musical language left a thoroughly personal impression.

Mats Liljeroos, Hufvudstadsbladet

Watch & listen

Markku Klami | Etude No. 6 ’Puro (Stream)’
08:47

Markku Klami | Etude No. 6 ’Puro (Stream)’

Patrik Kleemola plays YouTube premiere of Markku Klami’s Etude No. 6 ’Puro (Stream)’, from Etudes for guitar (2021). Welcome to follow the YouTube premiere of Markku Klami’s Etudes for guitar on Mondays, beginning on September 27 and continuing every Monday until November 29, 2021. Every video contains a discussion with Markku Klami and Patrik Kleemola at the end of the video. Join in by subscribing to the channel and hit the bell icon to keep updated! Sheet music for Klami’s Etudes is available from Edition Wilhelm Hansen (part of Wise Music Classical): https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/61914/Etudes--Markku-Klami/ In ’Puro’, the focus is on a continuous stream of rapid four-note arpeggios, using the classic p-i-m-a right-hand fingering, occasionally expanded further to five-note arpeggios by the use of a hammering left-hand legato. For classical guitarists, the p-i-m-a fingering is one of the most common fingerings for an arpeggio, but is often tricky at first and requires intense practice before becoming perhaps the most natural of all arpeggio techniques. This etude is a great workout for this technique. Students can practice this etude at a tempo suitable for their current technical level. The goal is to develop the p-i-m-a arpeggio until it can be executed very quickly (while musical changes from one repeating bar to the next are still very gradual). While practising, one might imagine a small stream that keeps moving forward infinitely. Patrik Kleemola’s website: https://www.patrikkleemola.com Markku Klami’s website: https://www.markkuklami.com --------- Guitar: Brian Cohen (2003) Microphones: Stereo pair of DPA 4011a Cardioid microphones Audio interface: Prism Sound Atlas Videocameras: Canon EOS 200D www.facebook.com/KleemolaGuitar
Markku Klami | Etude No. 10 ’Roihu (Blaze)’
08:50

Markku Klami | Etude No. 10 ’Roihu (Blaze)’

Patrik Kleemola plays YouTube premiere of Markku Klami’s Etude No. 10 ’Roihu (Blaze)’ , the last etude from Etudes for guitar (2021). Welcome to follow the YouTube premiere of Markku Klami’s Etudes for guitar on Mondays, beginning on September 27 and continuing every Monday until November 29, 2021. Every video contains a discussion with Markku Klami and Patrik Kleemola at the end of the video. Join in by subscribing to the channel and hit the bell icon to keep updated! Sheet music for Klami’s Etudes is available from Edition Wilhelm Hansen (part of Wise Music Classical): https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/61914/Etudes--Markku-Klami/ Roihu begins with sonorous dreamlike sections only to develop into a furious and technically demanding finale to the Etudes. At times, the hectic pace is reduced in calmer passages, only to speed up again, leading to a crackling climax at the end of the piece. The use of very fast scales, tremolos, traditional arpeggios and one-finger arpeggios results in kaleidoscopic textures placing the highest technical demands on the guitarist. Patrik Kleemola’s website: https://www.patrikkleemola.com Markku Klami’s website: https://www.markkuklami.com
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