Music of Finland - Classical & Opera

Classical & Opera

In the 18th century, public concerts were established in Turku and Erik Tulindberg wrote six very famous string quartets. After Russia's 1809 annexation of Finland, the cities of Viipuri and Helsinki became cultural centers and opera became very popular. The first Finnish opera was written by the German composer Fredrik Pacius in 1852. Pacius also wrote Maamme/Vårt land (Our Land), Finland's national anthem and founded Akademiska Sångföreningen in year 1838, the oldest still active choir in Finland.

In 1874 the Society for Culture and Education (Kansanvalistusseura) was founded in order to provide opportunities for artistic expression, beginning with the Jyväskylä festival in 1881. The festival, organized on Estonian roots, still exists today. In 1883, the Helsinki University Chorus (Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat) was founded as one of the few Finnish-language choirs in the mostly Swedish-speaking scene. The same year conductor Robert Kajanus founded what is known as the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Martin Wegelius founded what is now known as the Sibelius Academy.

In the 1890s Finnish nationalism based on the Kalevala spread, and Jean Sibelius became famous for his vocal symphony Kullervo. He soon received a grant to study poetry singers in Karelia and continued his rise as the first prominent Finnish musician. In 1899 he composed Finlandia, which played its important role in Finland gaining independence. He remains one of Finland's most popular national figures and is a symbol of the nation.

Alongside Sibelius, the national romanticism sprouted a number of composers who all contributed in the formation of a distinct Finnish style of music. Heino Kaski was a composer of small chamber music pieces, Yrjö Kilpinen composed a vast number of solo songs, as well as Leevi Madetoja and Toivo Kuula.

Aino Ackté and other prominent opera singers founded the Finnish Opera in 1911. Ackté also began a festival in Savonlinna the following year; this was the precursor of the Savonlinna Opera Festival, which was started in the 1960s, shortly before the new Finnish opera became famous in the 1970s.

Leevi Madetoja's 1924 Pohjalaisia, an operatic allegory about Russian oppression during the previous decades, became popular during the 1920s. At roughly the same time, Aarre Merikanto composed the opera Juha to the libretto by Aino Ackté, who rejected it and asked Leevi Madetoja to compose another version instead; Merikanto's Juha was first performed after the composers death in 1958, and is now known as one of the best Finnish operas. The 1930s saw composers like Uuno Klami and Yrjö Kilpinen rise to popularity. Kilpinen's approach was somewhat nationalistic, whereas Klami had Karelian influences while also leaning towards French models. Swedish-speaking composers Einar Englund and Erik Bergman also worked with a more continental attitude. In the 1940s, Bergman and Joonas Kokkonen gained popularity and added important technical innovations to Finnish music. The 1950s saw an increase in international attention on Finnish music and soon helped modernize Finnish composing. Einojuhani Rautavaara and Usko Meriläinen belonged to the young composers who made their breakthrough at this time.

Aulis Sallinen started a new wave of Finnish opera in the 1970s with The Horseman and The Red Line. The Red Line was soon recognized all over the globe with numerous reproductions in a.o. Moscow, London and New York. Important contemporary composers include Magnus Lindberg, Kalevi Aho, Kaija Saariaho and Jouni Kaipainen.

Finland has a very lively classical music scene. Since Finnish classical music has only existed for a little over a century, many important original composers are still alive. The composers are accompanied by a large number of great conductors such as Mikko Franck, Esa-Pekka Salonen (also a notable composer), Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Susanna Mälkki, Leif Segerstam and Sakari Oramo OBE.