Nationality: Finnish

CRUSELL, Bernhard

Born in Uusikaupunki, Finland, Oct 15, 1775
Died in Stockholm, July 28, 1838¹

Born in Oulu, Feb 17, 1887
Died in Helsinki, Oct 6, 1947

Leevi Madetoja (pronounced “Leh-vi Mah-det-oya”) was a Finnish composer, educator, and music critic who followed in the footsteps of Jean Sibelius in leading the Finnish national Romantic school.
Madetoja studied at the music institute in Helsinki under Sibelius, followed by a period of study in Paris under Vincent d’Indy and in Vienna/ Berlin under Robert Fuchs.²

Contemporary Finnish

Image courtesy of Music Finland

Born in Turku, Finland, 1963

Jaakko Mäntyjärvi [PRONUNCIATION] is a classical composer of primarily choral music, as well as a professional translator.
As a composer, Mäntyjärvi describes himself as an eclectic traditionalist: he adopts influences from a number of styles and periods, and his musical language is based on an awareness of tradition, continuity, and communicativeness.
Mäntyjärvi is an active choral singer, which is why much of his compositional inspiration falls into the choral genre.³

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Composer’s Website

Born in Käkisalmi, Finland [now Priozersk, Russia], Feb 7, 1875
Died in Pukinmäki, Helsinki, Feb 14, 1937

Erkki Melartin (pronunciation) studied at the Helsinki Music School with Martin Wegelius (1892–9) and in Vienna with Robert Fuchs.
Melartin went on to serve as director of the Helsinki Music School from 1911–36, where he “raised an entire generation of composers as a teacher, and supported young modernists.”
As a composer, Melartin was incredibly prolific, and his extensive output includes six symphonies (in addition to several more pieces for orchestra), stage works, chamber music, art songs, choral pieces, piano works, and more.
- Melartin’s music is rooted in the Late Romantic idiom while experimenting with the newer Impressionist and Expressionist styles.
- Largely overshadowed by his Finnish contemporary, Jean Sibelius, Melartin was writing symphonies around the same time as Sibelius and maintained a distinctive style and musical voice throughout.⁴

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Short biography from Fennica Gehrman

Born in Helsinki, 9 Oct, 1928
Died in Helsinki, 27 July, 2016

[PRONUNCIATION / AY-no-yu-hah-ni ROW-ta-vah-ra]

Einojuhani Rautavaara began studying music in his teens, earning a place Helsinki University for musicology and the Sibelius Academy for composition.
- In 1955, Jean Sibelius selected Rautavaara for a scholarship to study in the United States. Rautavaara spent two years studying with Vincent Persichetti at Juilliard. He also took part in the summer courses at Tanglewood given by Roger Sessions and Aaron Copland.⁵
As a composer, Rautavaara cycled through several styles throughout his long career. In the 1950s, his music is most often characterized by neoclassical elements, while the 60s brought a shift toward the avant-garde and experiments in 12-tone techniques. In the 70s, the composer embraced Romanticism, ultimately reaching his final “mystical” phase with music featuring angels.⁶
Rautavaara was quite prolific, writing eight symphonies, nine operas, 12 instrumental (and one choral) concertos, chamber music, choral music, and vocal works.⁷

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Short biography

Born in Hämeenlinna, Dec 8, 1865
Died in Järvenpää, Sept 20, 1957