Robert Kajanus

Robert Kajanus

Robert Kajanus (2 December, 1856 - 6 July, 1933) was a Finnish conductor and composer.

Early career

Robert Kajanus was the most prominent Finnish composer before Jean Sibelius. His music drew on the folk legends of the Finnish people.. He studied with Talsin and Niemann in Helsinki, with Hans Richter, Carl Reinecke and Salomon Jadassohn in Leipzig, and Johann Svendsen in Paris. In the 1880s he put the Helsinki Orchestra on a permanent footing.

He worked in Dresden in the years immediately after his graduation, and returned to Helsinki in 1882. He founded the Helsinki Philharmonic Society, (later to become the Finnish National Orchestra), the first permanent orchestra in Finland. He brought the orchestra to a very high performance standard very quickly, so that they were able to give quite credible performances of the standard late classical/mid-romantic repertory. Kajanus led the Helsinki Philharmonic for 50 years, and among the milestones of that history was the first performance in Finland of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in 1888.

Kajanus was appointed director of music at Helsinki University in 1897 and remained in the post for the next 29 years, a period in which he had a major impact on music education in his native country. He was also the founder of the Nordic Music Festival in 1919.

Kajanus and Sibelius

Kajanus had a decisive impact upon the development of the career of Jean Sibelius. He was considered an authority on the interpretation of Sibelius's music, and he and Sibelius were close friends; this was compromised in 1898 when Sibelius was appointed to a university post for which Kajanus was himself a candidate. Kajanus appealed and the decision was overturned. However they reconciled for the orchestra's tour of Europe in 1900, where they appeared at the Exposition Universelle at the invitation of the French government. "Kullervo", Sibelius's epic masterpiece, was written in the wake of Kajanus' symphonic poem "Aino". Additionally, as a conductor, Kajanus was responsible for commissioning one of Sibelius' most popular and enduring works, "En Saga", following the success of "Kullervo". "Pohjola's Daughter" was dedicated to Kajanus. When Kajanus took the Helsinki Orchestra on a tour of Europe in 1900, both he and Sibelius served as conductors, in what proved to be the first performances of Sibelius's music outside of Finland. This ensured the spread of the young composer's reputation far beyond the borders of his homeland, the first Finnish composer to receive such attention.

He was the first to make recordings of Sibelius's First, Second, Third and Fifth symphonies. They were recorded in the early 1930s, with the London Symphony Orchestra. The relationship between Kajanus and Sibelius was such that his interpretations of the composer's music are usually regarded as being extraordinarily close to Sibelius's own wishes.Fact|date=May 2007

In 1930, the Finnish government and Britain's EMI-Columbia label, perceiving a potentially wide audience for the composer's work, contrived to secure recordings of Sibelius's first two symphonies, and Kajanus was selected to record both at the insistence of the composer. In 1932, Kajanus recorded Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5, along with several of the orchestral suites and tone poems. Apart from being the most massive recording project ever attempted around the work of a living composer, these recordings were considered definitive for many years, and are still regarded as necessary listening for serious fans of Sibelius. Only his death in July 1933, at the age of 76, prevented Kajanus from recording the composer's complete extant works.

He received many decorations, including the French Légion d'Honneur.

Robert Kajanus is the great-grandfather of composer Georg Kajanus.

External links

* [http://www.divine-art.com/AS/27801artists.htm Article]


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  • Robert Kajanus — (1897) Robert Kajanus (* 2. Dezember 1856 in Helsinki; † 6. Juli 1933 ebenda) war ein finnischer Dirigent und Komponist. Kajanus studierte Musik in Helsinki, Leipzig und Paris. Im Jahr 1882 gründete er als Dirigent das erste vollständig besetzte… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Robert Kajanus — Le compositeur en 1897 Naissance 2 décembre 1856 Helsinki …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kajanus — Robert Kajanus (1897) Robert Kajanus (* 2. Dezember 1856 in Helsinki; † 6. Juli 1933 ebenda) war ein finnischer Dirigent und Komponist. Kajanus studierte Musik in Helsinki, Leipzig und Paris. Im Jahr 1882 gründete er als Dirigent das erste… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kajanus — Robert Kajanus Robert Kajanus (1897) Robert Kajanus est un compositeur et chef d orchestre finlandais né le 2 décembre 1856 à Helsinki et décédé le 6 juillet 1933 dans la même ville. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kajanus — Kajanus,   Robert, finnischer Dirigent und Komponist, * Helsinki 2. 12. 1856, ✝ ebenda 6. 7. 1933; studierte in Leipzig und Paris und gründete 1882 in Helsinki das erste finnische Sinfonieorchester, das er bis 1932 dirigierte. Er setzte sich… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Jean Kajanus — Robert Kajanus Robert Kajanus (1897) Robert Kajanus est un compositeur et chef d orchestre finlandais né le 2 décembre 1856 à Helsinki et décédé le 6 juillet 1933 dans la même ville. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kajanus, Robert — ▪ Finnish conductor and composer born Dec. 2, 1856, Helsingfors, Finland, Russian Empire [now Helsinki, Fin.] died July 6, 1933, Helsinki       Finnish conductor and composer who championed Finnish national music.       Kajanus studied music in… …   Universalium

  • Georg Kajanus — (Georg Johan Tchegodaieff Kajanus) is a Norwegian composer and singer/songwriter. He is best known as the singer songwriter for the British pop group, Sailor. He is the son of Prince Paul Tchegodaieff of Russia and J. Kajanus, the award winning… …   Wikipedia

  • Каянус Р. —         (Kajanus) Роберт (2 XII 1856, Хельсинки 6 VII 1933, там же) фин. дирижёр, композитор и педагог. Один из создателей фин. нац. музыки.         Учился в консерваториях в Хельсинки, позднее в Лейпциге (1877 79) и в Париже, где занимался у Ю.… …   Музыкальная энциклопедия

  • Καγιάνους, Ρόμπερτ — (Robert Kajanus, 1856 – 1933). Φιλανδός μουσικός. Αρχικά σπούδασε στην πατρίδα του και μετεκπαιδεύτηκε στη Λειψία και στο Παρίσι. Το 1882 ίδρυσε την πρώτη εταιρεία συμφωνικών συναυλιών της χώρας του στο Ελσίνκι και διετέλεσε διευθυντής ορχήστρας …   Dictionary of Greek

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