Erkki Melartin

Erkki Melartin (February 2 1875–February 14 1937) was a Finnish composer and pupil of Martin Wegelius from 1892-99 in Helsinki, and Robert Fuchs from 1899-1901 in Vienna. Interestingly enough, he shares identical birth and death years with more famous composer Maurice Ravel.

As well as composing, Melartin also taught and directed music at the Helsinki Music College, later the Helsinki Conservatory. As conductor of the Viborg Orchestra in 1908-11, and despite chronic health problems, Melartin toured extensively (as far as North Africa and India), conducting the first performance of Gustav Mahler's music in Scandinavia, a movement of the "Resurrection" symphony in 1909 (see the Finnish Music Information Centre link,. [ [http://www.fimic.fi/fimic/fimic.nsf/mainframe?readform&9615945EFB623137C2256D7B003620A8 Finnish Music Information Centre - Suomalaisen musiikin tiedotuskeskus ] at www.fimic.fi] )

Although Melartin was chiefly a lyricist, the symphony was central to his musical output. He wrote six symphonies (1902–1924) and was the first Finnish composer to bear Mahler's influence. The fourth symphony uses a vocalise like that of Carl Nielsen's "Sinfonia Espansiva". The fifth is a "Sinfonia brevis" ending in a fugue and chorale, while the sixth, harmonically more advanced than the other five, advances stepwise from a C minor first movement — with evocations of Mahler's seventh symphony — to an E-flat major finale. His musical output also includes an opera, "Aino" (based on the character from the Finnish national epic), a violin concerto, four string quartets, and many piano pieces. His works therefore are divided mainly into large-scale works for orchestra, and chamber pieces for much smaller groups and soloists. In spite of working in the same time period as Jean Sibelius, he was not influenced by the more famous composer's style, and subsequently his work has been largely overshadowed by Finland's most revered composer.

Major Compositions

* Opera : "Aino" in two acts (1907-09)

* Chamber

:String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, Op. 36/1 (1896) :String Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 36/2 (1900):String Quartet No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 36/3 (1902):String Quartet No. 4 in F, Op. 62 (1910):String Trio, Op. 133 (1930)

* Piano Music

:Two Ballads, Op. 5 (1899):Three Pieces,op. 8 (1899) :Legend II, Op. 12 (1900):The Melancholy Garden, Op. 52 (1908):Lyric Pieces, Op. 59 (1909):24 Preludes, Op. 85 (1913-20):Noli me tangere, Op. 87 (1914):The Silent Forest & On High, Op. 98 (1916?) :Fantasia apocaliptica, Op. 111 (1921):The Mysterious Forest, Op. 118 (1924?):Six Piano Pieces, Op. 123 (1924-25)

* Orchestral Music

:"Sleeping Beauty" Suite from incidental music, Op. 22 (1911):Concerto for Violin & Orchestra, Op. 60 (1913):Lyric Suite No. 3 "Impressions de Belgique", Op. 95 (1915?):Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 30/1 (1902):Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30/2 (1904):Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 40 (1906-07):Symphony No. 4 in E major "Summer", Op. 80 (1912):Symphony No. 5 in A minor "Sinfonia brevis", Op. 90 (1915):Symphony No. 6,Op. 100 (1924)

References

* Pitkäranta, Inkeri: "Erkki Melartin Painter, Composer, Philosopher" Finnish Music Quarterly 1/2000 pp. 2-7.
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External links

* [http://www2.siba.fi/Melartinseura/ Melartin Society]
* [http://www.fimic.fi/melartin Finnish Music Information Centre Melartin Site]
* [http://www.ondine.net/index.php?lid=en&cid=4.2&oid=659 Ondine Records Melartin Site]