Erik Eriksson Tulindberg (February 22, 1761 – September 1, 1814) was the first known

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

Life

Tulindberg was born in

Vähäkyrö Vähäkyrö ( sv, Lillkyro) is a former municipality of Finland and an exclave of the city of Vaasa since January 1, 2013. It was located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population ...

Western Finland Western Finland ( fi, Länsi-Suomen lääni, sv, Västra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Eastern Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Bothnia towards Åland. ...

. He studied 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 then worked as a civil servant in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

from 1784 to 1809 and thereafter in Turku. He played the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and was appointed a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

in 1797. He died in Turku at the age of 53.

Music

From his compositions only a

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

in B-flat major, six

string quartets The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...

, and a polonaise with five variations for solo violin remain. He wrote the violin concerto before 1784 during his youth in Turku. The work shows "simplicity and occasional clumsines

and the influences of Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Haydn and the Mannheim School of music. His string quartets are more mature works and are better known today than the violin concerto. The string quartets are in the tradition of Haydn. A copy of Haydn's string quartets was found among Tulindberg's possessions after his death.

Perspective

Tulindberg was a contemporary of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

and, like Mozart, he was part of the

Classical era Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

in music. His importance stems largely from his pioneering position in the music of Finland. No Finnish composer is known from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

era

The compositions of Tulindberg were not rediscovered until 100 years after his death.

External links

Finnish music information site
(in English)

entry on Rantatie Quartet site
Steglein Database entry
to the string quartets of Tulindberg * :de:Erik Tulindberg, Erik Tulindberg, entry in the German Wikipedia (in German) 1761 births 1814 deaths People from Vähäkyrö Swedish-speaking Finns Classical-period composers Finnish classical composers Finnish classical violinists Male classical violinists Finnish male classical composers 19th-century male musicians {{finland-composer-stub