Erkki Melartin
Erkki Gustav Melartin (born February 7, 1875 in Käkisalmi (now Priosersk , Russia ), † February 14, 1937 in Pukinmäki , now part of Helsinki ) was a Finnish composer and conductor .
Life
Melartin studied with Martin Wegelius at the Helsinki Music Institute from 1895 to 1898 , then with Robert Fuchs in Vienna until 1901 , and for some time in Berlin and Rome . In 1901 he became a teacher of theory, music history and piano at the Music Institute in Helsinki, later the Sibelius Academy . From 1908 to 1911 he worked as a conductor in Viipuri (now Vyborg ), and from 1911 to 1936 he was director of the Helsinki Music Institute (Helsinki Conservatory from 1924).
Melartin was the first conductor in Scandinavia to conduct a work by Gustav Mahler (1909 a movement from his 2nd symphony ).
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Melartin's compositional work comprises 189 works with opus numbers, along with a number of unnumbered works. Melartin wrote an opera ( Aino , 1909, based on a motif from the Finnish national epic Kalevala ), 6 symphonies (between 1902 and 1924; the 4th - probably the best known - is called the Summer Symphony and includes vocalises ), and two unfinished Symphony Designs. He also composed suites, symphonic poems, a ballet, a violin concerto, chamber music (including 4 string quartets) as well as numerous piano pieces and songs.
Melartin is sometimes disparagingly referred to as eclectic . Stylistically he was initially obliged to Sibelius , later influences from Mahler (especially in the combination of folk elements with sophisticated counterpoint ) and Impressionism . In the 1920s Melartin also took up stylistic devices from Expressionism . In the 6th Symphony from 1924, the tonal reference is not clearly defined at the beginning. His most progressive work is the piano sonata Fantasia apocalyptica from the same period, which is reminiscent of Scriabin .
Web links
- Complete catalog of works in Finnish
- Documents on life and work at the Finnish Music Information Center
- Erkki Melartin - a symphonic composer of international stature? ( Memento of February 8, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- Sheet music and audio files by Erkki Melartin in the International Music Score Library Project
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Melartin, Erkki |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Melartin, Erkki Gustav (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Finnish composer and conductor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 7, 1875 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Käkisalmi (today Priosersk , Russia ) |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 14, 1937 |
| Place of death | Pukinmäki (now part of Helsinki ) |