The Academic Male Voice Choir of Helsinki ( sv, Akademiska Sångföreningen, lit=The Academic Song Association, ), abbreviated AS, colloquially also known as , but without lexical meaning. (), is a
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly a ...
academic
male-voice choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. The choir was founded in 1838 by
Fredrik Pacius
Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music".
Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was ap ...
and is the oldest extant choir in Finland. It is one of two male-voice choirs affiliated with the University of Helsinki, the other being the oldest extant Finnish-language choir, the
YL Male Voice Choir YL Male Voice Choir (formerly: Helsinki University Chorus; fi, Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat) was founded by P. J. Hannikainen in 1883 to become the choir of the Helsinki University. It is also the oldest Finnish-language choir. Nowadays the choir is ...
( fi, Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat). Furthermore, it is one of two Swedish-language choirs affiliated with the University of Helsinki, the other being the
Academic Female Voice Choir Lyran ( sv, Akademiska Damkören Lyran).
History
Overview
![Young Pacius](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Young_Pacius.jpg)
Akademiska Sångföreningen was founded no later than during the spring term of 1838 by
Fredrik Pacius
Fredrik Pacius (; born Friedrich Pacius; 19 March 1809 – 8 January 1891) was a German-Finnish composer and conductor who lived most of his life in Finland. He has been called the "Father of Finnish music".
Pacius was born in Hamburg. He was ap ...
(), music lecturer at the Imperial Alexander University of Finland (today the
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...
) and sometimes known as "the father of Finnish music", originally under the name sv, Akademiska Sångsällskapet, lit=The Academic Song Society, label=none. The choir is thus the oldest extant one in Finland. The name ' was introduced no later than in 1846.
During the 19th century the choir became a symbol of national awakening in the emerging Finnish nation, at the time part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
as the
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...
. On 13 May 1848, Pacius' composition sv,
Vårt land, lit=Our Land, label=none, set to the poem by
Johan Ludvig Runeberg, was performed for the first time by the choir, conducted by Pacius, during the students' celebration of the ''Flora Day''. The composition was to become the national anthem of the Finnish nation.
In the 1850s and 60s, elite triple quartets from within the choir's ranks ( sv, "sångartolfvor", lit=singer twelves) participated in raising the funds necessary to build what is today known as the
Old Student House in Helsinki ( sv, Gamla studenthuset, fi, Vanha ylioppilastalo), by travelling the country performing. The Old Student House was finished in 1870 and is still the location for the choir's weekly rehearsals.
During the second half of the 20th century, the choir, directed by modernist
Erik Bergman
Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911, in Nykarleby – 24 April 2006, in Helsinki) was a composer of classical music from Finland.
Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bei ...
, came to carve out new paths for the male-voice choir tradition in Finland, proving that this genre of music was able to exhibit superior musical qualities as well. After Bergman, jazz musician
Henrik Otto Donner
Henrik Otto Donner (16 November 1939 – 26 June 2013) was a Finnish composer, musician and all-round music personality. His musical styles varied from pop and rock music to jazz, electronic music and contemporary classical music. Donner's person ...
carried on this tradition.
At end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 80s the choir was engaged in lighter types of music. The concerts in
Finlandia Hall
The Finlandia Hall is a congress and event venue in the centre of Helsinki on the Töölönlahti Bay, owned by the City of Helsinki. The building, which was designed by architect Alvar Aalto, was completed in 1971. Every detail in the building i ...
were decidedly successful and, when necessary, members of the choir would compose pieces of music themselves.
During the 20th century the choir had several prominent conductors: Bengt Carlson,
Nils-Eric Fougstedt, Erik Bergman, Henrik Otto Donner, Markus Westerlund, Eric-Olof Söderström, Tom Eklundh, John Schultz and Henrik Wikström all directed the choir. The most recent chief conductor Dr
Kari Turunen,
Doctor of Music
The Doctor of Music degree (D.Mus., D.M., Mus.D. or occasionally Mus.Doc.) is a higher doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions and/or scholarly publications on music. Like other higher doctorates, it is granted b ...
, was appointed 2008 and stepped down in 2019 after the spring term, having been appointed artistic director of the
Vancouver Chamber Choir
The Vancouver Chamber Choir is a Canadian choir performing in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in 1971 by Jon Washburn. The VCC has commissioned and premiered more than 170 new choral works in over four decades. The choir performs at h ...
, beginning the autumn term 2019. In June 2019, Elisa Huovinen,
Master of Music, was appointed his successor as chief conductor of Akademiska Sångföreningen.
List of chief conductors
![HenrikOttoDonner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/HenrikOttoDonner.jpg)
The chief conductor is the artistic director of the choir.
List of presidents
The president is the chairman of the committee.
Present activities
![Helsinki Old Student House](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Helsinki_Old_Student_House.jpg)
Being the oldest extant male voice choir in Finland, Akademiska Sångföreningen has always cared particularly for the classical Finnish male voice repertoire. Among the composers whose compositions form part of the choir's standard repertoire are honorary members
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...
,
Selim Palmgren
Selim Gustaf Adolf Palmgren (16 February 1878 – 13 December 1951) 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 ...
and Erik Bergman, as well as fellow composers
Toivo Kuula
Toivo Timoteus Kuula (7 July 1883 – 18 May 1918) was a Finnish composer and conductor of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods, who emerged in the wake of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1906 to 1908. The core of Ku ...
and
Leevi Madetoja
Leevi Antti Madetoja (; 17 February 1887 – 6 October 1947) was a Finns, Finnish composer, music criticism, music critic, conductor (music), conductor, and teacher of the Romantic music, late-Romantic and modernism (music), early-moder ...
. Furthermore, being a
Finland-Swedish
Finland Swedish or Fenno-Swedish ( sv, finlandssvenska; fi, suomenruotsi) is a general term for the variety of the Swedish language and a closely related group of Swedish dialects spoken in Finland by the Swedish-speaking population, commonly a ...
organization, the choir has always seen it as a natural and important task to champion the Swedish-speaking minority culture in Finland. Hence, the standard repertoire encompasses not only choral works of Finnish and Finland-Swedish origin, but also many works of Swedish origin, for example by honorary member
Hugo Alfvén
Hugo Emil Alfvén (; 1 May 18728 May 1960) was a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.
Career
Violinist
Alfvén was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and studied at the Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan) from 1887 ...
.
As implied by its name, the choir is an academic or students' choir, and like its Helsinki sister choir the
Academic Female Voice Choir Lyran ( sv, Akademiska Damkören Lyran) an independent 'music corporation' ( sv, musikkorporation, fi, musiikkikorporaatio) affiliated with the University of Helsinki. The choir presently comprises some 50 active singers, many of whom are university students. Concerts are given regularly in Finland, and the choir travels abroad frequently. In addition to most European countries, the choir has been on tour in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Particularly in recent years, the choir has devoted itself to actively producing records, explicitly in order to document high quality male voice choir repertoire in Swedish. Apart from Swedish, the choir also sings in the parody language
Transpiranto on the record ''Happi kvam pippi'', which was released in 2006. A later album, ''Hymn to Finland'', was produced by Swedish label
BIS Records and documents works for male voice choir by founder Fredrik Pacius. The record was released on 19 March 2009, the 200th anniversary of Pacius' birth.
The choir maintains contacts with other similar choirs, in Finland in particular with male voice academic choirs
Brahe Djäknar in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
and the
YL Male Voice Choir YL Male Voice Choir (formerly: Helsinki University Chorus; fi, Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat) was founded by P. J. Hannikainen in 1883 to become the choir of the Helsinki University. It is also the oldest Finnish-language choir. Nowadays the choir is ...
( fi, Ylioppilaskunnan Laulajat) in Helsinki, and in Sweden in particular with
Orphei Drängar
Sångsällskapet Orphei Drängar (OD) is a Swedish male voice choir and singing society based in Uppsala, Sweden. While best known for its high quality performances of the classical repertoire, OD sings music of all genres in many different langu ...
in
Uppsala
Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...
,
Stockholm Academic Male Chorus ( sv, Stockholms Studentsångare) in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
,
Linköping University Male Voice Choir ( sv, Linköpings Studentsångare) in
Linköping
Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...
and
Lund University Male Voice Choir ( sv, Lunds Studentsångförening) in
Lund
Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...
.
Ever since 1954, the choir has collaborated extensively with the
Academic Female Voice Choir Lyran ( sv, Akademiska Damkören Lyran), the only other Swedish-language University of Helsinki choir. The two choirs give several annually recurring concerts together.
Discography
Notes
Citations
References
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Further reading
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External links
Official website
Official English webpageUniversity of HelsinkiStudent Union of the University of HelsinkiArkivet: "Akademiska sångföreningen är Finlands äldsta kör"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akademiska Sangforeningen
University choirs
Boys' and men's choirs
Finnish choirs
Musical groups established in 1838
1838 establishments in Finland
19th century in Helsinki