List of Finnish composers
Encyclopedia
18th century
| Name | Birth | Death | Styles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erik Tulindberg Erik Tulindberg Erik Tulindberg was the first known Finnish composer of classical music.-Life:Tulindberg was born in Vähäkyrö in Western Finland. He studied in Turku and then worked as a civil servant in Oulu from 1784 to 1809 and thereafter in Turku. He played the violin and cello and was appointed a member of... |
1761 | 1814 | classical |
| Bernhard Henrik Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell Bernhard Henrik Crusell was a Swedish-Finnish clarinetist, composer and translator, "the most significant and internationally best-known Finnish-born classical composer and indeed, — the outstanding Finnish composer before Sibelius".-Early life and training:Crusell was born in Uusikaupunki ,... |
1775 | 1838 | |
19th century
| Name | Birth | Death | Styles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fredrik Pacius Fredrik Pacius Fredrik Pacius was a German composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music".... |
1809 | 1891 | opera Opera Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance... |
| Robert Kajanus Robert Kajanus Robert Kajanus was a Finnish conductor and composer of Swedish descent.-Life:Robert Kajanus was the most prominent Finnish composer before Jean Sibelius. His music drew on the folk legends of the Finnish people... |
1856 | 1933 | |
| Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."... |
1865 | 1957 | choir Choir A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus... classical vocal |
| Oskar Merikanto Oskar Merikanto Oskar Merikanto was a Finnish musician and composer.He was born to Swedish-speaking parents in Helsinki. His father, originally Frank Mattsson, changed the family name to sound more Finnish.... |
1868 | 1924 | classical |
| Armas Jarnefelt Armas Järnefelt Edvard Armas Järnefelt , was a Finnish composer and conductor.Armas Järnefelt was born in Vyborg, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, the son of general August Aleksander Järnefelt and Elisabeth Järnefelt . His siblings were Kasper, Arvid, Erik, Ellida, Ellen, Aino, Hilja and Sigrid... |
1869 | 1958 | classical |
| Erkki Melartin Erkki Melartin Erkki Melartin was a Finnish composer and pupil of Martin Wegelius from 1892-99 in Helsinki, and Robert Fuchs from 1899-1901 in Vienna. He shares identical birth and death years with the composer Maurice Ravel.... |
1875 | 1937 | classical opera |
| Ernst Mielck Ernst Mielck Ernst Mielck was a Finnish composer.Mielck was born in Vyborg. He started piano lessons at the age of ten; in 1891 he was sent to Berlin, where he studied under Max Bruch, one of the leading composers of the period. Bruch said of Mielck that he had "an easy, felicitous, and remarkable flair for... |
1877 | 1899 | classical |
| Selim Palmgren Selim Palmgren Selim Gustaf Adolf Palmgren , dubbed "The Finnish Chopin", was a Finnish composer, pianist, and conductor. Palmgren was born in Pori, Finland, February 16, 1878. He studied at the Conservatory in Helsinki from 1895 to 1899, then continued his piano studies in Berlin with Ansorge, Berger and Busoni... |
1878 | 1951 | classical impressionist Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s... opera choir vocal |
| Toivo Kuula Toivo Kuula Toivo Timoteus Kuula was a Finnish conductor and composer. He was born in the city of Vaasa , when Finland still was a Grand Duchy under Russian rule. He is known as a colorful and passionate portrayer of Finnish nature and people... |
1883 | 1918 | classical |
| Armas Launis Armas Launis Armas Launis , was a Finnish composer as well as an ethnomusicologist, a professor, a writer and a journalist. He was born in Hämeenlinna.-The Composer:... |
1884 | 1959 | opera |
| Leevi Madetoja Leevi Madetoja Leevi Antti Madetoja was a Finnish composer.-Life and career:Born in Oulu, he was the son of Antti Madetoja and Anna Hyttinen... |
1887 | 1947 | classical opera |
| Ernest Pingoud Ernest Pingoud Ernest Pingoud was a Finnish composer of Alsatian parentage.-Life:Born in Saint Petersburg, Pingoud was a pupil of the great Russian composers Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In 1906, he went to Germany to study with Max Reger.Pingoud was the... |
1887 | 1942 | classical first modernist |
| Väinö Raitio Väinö Raitio Väinö Raitio was part of the small group of composers who appeared in the Finnish art music scene in the 1920s with a new cosmopolitan music style, very different from the dominant conservative National Romanticism.... |
1891 | 1945 | classical modernist |
| Yrjö Kilpinen Yrjö Kilpinen Yrjö Henrik Kilpinen was a Finnish composer. He was born in Helsinki, and in 1907 he started his studies in the Helsingin Musiikkiopisto . In 1910 Kilpinen moved to Vienna to continue his studies and from 1913 to 1914 he studied in Berlin.Kilpinen is most famous for composing 790 works in the... |
1892 | 1959 | classical romantic |
| Aarre Merikanto Aarre Merikanto Aarre Merikanto was a Finnish composer.He was the son of Liisa Häyrynen and the famous romantic composer, professor Oskar Merikanto. His childhood he spent in Vilppula, Finland. From year 1919, he was married to Meri Grönmark... |
1893 | 1958 | classical modernist |
20th century
| Name | Birth | Death | Styles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uuno Klami Uuno Klami Uuno Klami was a Finnish composer. He was born in Virolahti. Many of his works are related to the Kalevala. He was also influenced by French music, in particularly by Maurice Ravel and the group Les Six... |
1900 | 1961 | classical |
| Erik Bergman Erik Bergman Erik Valdemar Bergman was an influential composer of classical music from Finland.Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works to modernism and primitivism, among other genres... |
1911 | 2006 | classical |
| Sven Einar Englund Sven Einar Englund Sven Einar Englund was a Finnish composer.-Life:Sven Einar Englund was born at Ljugarn in Gotland on June 17. 1916; he died 27th. June 1999... |
1916 | 1999 | classical |
| Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera The Last Temptations has received over 500 performances worldwide, and is considered by many to be Finland's most distinguished national opera.-... |
1921 | 1996 | classical neo-classical Neoclassicism (music) Neoclassicism in music was a twentieth-century trend, particularly current in the period between the two World Wars, in which composers sought to return to aesthetic precepts associated with the broadly defined concept of "classicism", namely order, balance, clarity, economy, and emotional restraint... opera Opera Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance... |
| Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara is a Finnish composer of contemporary classical music, and is one of the most notable Finnish composers after Jean Sibelius.-Life:... |
1928 | — | neo-romantic, opera, mystic |
| Usko Meriläinen Usko Meriläinen Usko Meriläinen was a Finnish composer. He was born in Tampere.In 1954 his Partita for Brass won the Thor Johnson composition competition in Cincinnati, Ohio.His works include:* Symphony No. 1... |
1930 | 2004 | |
| Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen Aulis Sallinen is a Finnish contemporary classical music composer. He writes in a modern, though tonal and not experimental music style. He studied at the Sibelius Academy, where his teachers included Joonas Kokkonen... |
1935 | — | neo-classical |
| Teppo Hauta-Aho Teppo Hauta-Aho Teppo Hauta-Aho is a Finnish double bassist and composer.One of the most prominent jazz and classical double bassist in the Finland area, he resides in Helsinki. One of his most famous pieces, Kadenza, has been played at many music festivals worldwide, and for many competitions... |
1941 | — | |
| Erkki Salmenhaara Erkki Salmenhaara Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara was a Finnish composer and musicologist.-Personal life:Salmenhaara was born in Helsinki, Finland, and married Anja Kosonen in 1961. They had two sons, but divorced in 1978... |
1941 | 2002 | classical |
| Herman Rechbergerhttp://sonopt.pp.fi | 1947 | — | modernist vocal ethnic opera Opera Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance... |
| Mikko Heiniö Mikko Heiniö -Life:Heiniö was born in in Tampere, and studied composition with Joonas Kokkonen and piano with Liisa Pohjola at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki from 1971 to 1975, and then studied composition with Witold Szalonek in West Berlin from 1975–77 while at the same time beginning studies in musicology... |
1948 | — | classical |
| Kalevi Aho Kalevi Aho Kalevi Aho is a Finnish composer.- Career :Born in Forssa, he studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Einojuhani Rautavaara, receiving a diploma in 1971. He continued his studies for a year in Berlin with Boris Blacher... |
1949 | — | modernist neo-classical |
| Kaija Saariaho Kaija Saariaho Kaija Saariaho is a Finnish composer.Kaija Saariaho studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since 1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have had a major influence on her music and her characteristically luxuriant and mysterious textures are often created by... |
1952 | — | classical |
| Juhani Komulainen Juhani Komulainen Juhani Komulainen is a Finnish composer of modern classical music. He lives in Helsinki.-Biography:... |
1953 | — | classical |
| Olli Kortekangas Olli Kortekangas Olli Kortekangas is a Finnish composer, born on May 16, 1955 in Turku. He currently resides in Espoo, Finland.His early career in music began in Espoon Musiikkiopisto and the youth choir Candomino. His academic studies in music began at the Sibelius Academy as a pupil of Eero Hämeenniemi and... |
1955 | — | choir Choir A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus... classical opera |
| Jouni Kaipainen Jouni Kaipainen Jouni Kaipainen is a Finnish composer.Kaipainen was born in Helsinki. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Aulis Sallinen and Paavo Heininen.- Works for the Stage :... |
1956 | — | classical |
| Magnus Lindberg Magnus Lindberg Magnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer and pianist. He is currently the composer-in-residence at the New York Philharmonic.-Education:... |
1958 | — | classical |
| Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and Conductor Laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.-Early career:... |
1958 | — | classical |
| Timo Alakotila Timo Alakotila Timo Alakotila is a Finnish composer, arranger, and musician born July 15, 1959.Timo Alakotila's range of music styles stretches from Finnish folk music of the pelimanni style over some jazz influences to more or less Finnish style tangos, and with some extensions to classical music... |
1959 | — | classical jazz Jazz Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th... pelimanni tango Tango music Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons... |
| Jaakko Mäntyjärvi Jaakko Mäntyjärvi Jaakko Mäntyjärvi is a Finnish composer of classical music, and a professional translator.-Education:Mäntyjärvi studied English and Linguistics at the University of Helsinki, graduating with an FK degree in 1991... |
1963 | — | classical folk |
| Arto Järvelä Arto Järvelä Arto Järvelä is a Finnish fiddler and composer. Because of the many groups and projects he is involved in, he has been called "the busiest man in Finnish folk music". He is primarily a violinist, but among other instruments of his are nyckelharpa, mandolin and kantele... |
1964 | — | folk Folk music Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers.... |
| Maria Kalaniemi Maria Kalaniemi Maria Kalaniemi is a Finnish accordionist. She was originally classically trained, but has become mostly as folk musician having played this music from childhood, besides her classical music studies, and also at the folk music department of the Sibelius Academy.Groups she is or has been involved... |
1964 | — | classical folk |
| Osmo Tapio Räihälä Osmo Tapio Räihälä Osmo Tapio Everton Räihälä is a Finnish composer of contemporary music. He has mainly written instrumental music for various chamber music line-ups, fourconcertos as well as for symphony orchestra... |
1964 | — | classical post-modernist |
| Mika Pohjola Mika Pohjola Mika Pohjola is a Finnish-born jazz pianist and composer, who resides in New York City. He is one of the most prolific Scandinavian jazz musicians in his generation.-Childhood in Helsinki, Finland 1971-87:... |
1971 | — | neo-classical jazz |
| Perttu Haapanen | 1972 | — | classical post-modernist |
| Eicca Toppinen Eicca Toppinen Eino Matti "Eicca" Toppinen is a Finnish cellist, songwriter, producer, arranger, and drummer. In 1993 he formed the quartet Apocalyptica.- Biography :... |
1975 | — | |
| Sampo Haapamäki | 1979 | — | classical modernist |