Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara (March 12, 1941 – March 19, 2002) was a Finnish composer and musicologist.

Personal life

Salmenhaara was born in Helsinki, Finland, and married Anja Kosonen in 1961. They had two sons, but divorced in 1978. Salmenhaara died in Helsinki on March 19, 2002.

Career

Salmenhaara studied composition with

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera '' The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performa ...

at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It ...

until 1963, and then continued his studies with György Ligeti in Vienna. Salmenhaara then studied musicology, aesthetics and theoretical philosophy at the University of Helsinki, and earned his PhD in 1970 with a doctoral thesis about the works of the composer Ligeti. He served as lecturer (1966–1975) and associate professor (1975–2002) of musicology at the University of Helsinki and was also the leading writer on classical music in Finland. In addition, he served as chairman of the Society of Finnish Composers (1974–1976) and of the Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras (1974–1978).

Works

Prior to studying with Kokkonen, Salmenhaara had already written several tonal pieces, including the 17 Small Pieces for Piano (1957–1960). In the early 1960s, he was associated with the modernist Finnish Musical Youth. Beginning in the 1970s, Salmenhaara's works began to be characterized by frequent repetition of triadic motives with gradual changes in harmony. Although this led to his being linked to the movement in music known as

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include ...

, Salmenhaara nonetheless denied this connection. Like the works of the Dutch minimalist composer

Simeon ten Holt Simeon ten Holt (24 January 1923 – 25 November 2012) was a Dutch contemporary classical composer. Ten Holt was born in Bergen, North Holland, and studied with Jakob van Domselaer, eventually developing a highly personal style of minimal ...

, Salmenhaara's works from this period utilize a musical language closely related to that of the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

of classical music, giving his music a decidedly European aesthetic. Salmenhaara's compositions include several symphonic works,

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

pieces,

choral 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 sp ...

works, songs for solo instrument, and vocal arts songs. He also wrote one opera, ''Portugalin nainen'' (The Portuguese Woman) which premiered at the Suomen Kansallisooppera in February 1976. Salmenhaara's published writings include a textbook on music theory, a history of

20th-century music The following Wikipedia articles deal with 20th-century music. Western art music Main articles *20th-century classical music *Contemporary classical music, covering the period Sub-topics *Aleatoric music *Electronic music *Experimental music *Ex ...

, monographs on Ligeti, Jean Sibelius's ''Tapiola'' and the Brahms symphonies, biographies of Jean Sibelius and

Leevi Madetoja Leevi Antti Madetoja (; 17 February 1887 – 6 October 1947) was a Finnish composer, music critic, conductor, and teacher of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish ...

, and a history of the

Society of Finnish Composers A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

. He also contributed to Erik W. Tawaststjerna's comprehensive biography of Sibelius. His most significant literary work was his contribution to a four-volume history of Finnish music (published in 1995–1996), writing about the period from the Romantic era to the Second World War. In addition, from 1963 to 1973, he served as a critic for the leading Finnish newspaper ''Helsingin Sanomat''.

Discography

(selection) * ''Suomi-Finland'', ''La Fille en mini-jupe'', ''Adagietto'', ''Le bateau ivre''. Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Eri Klas. Ondine ODE 1031–2. * Chamber works with piano. Jouni Somero, piano – Raymond Cox, violin – Laura Bucht, cello. FC Records FCRCD-9727. * Complete solo piano music. Jouni Somero, piano. (2CD) FC Records FCRCD-9707 * ''Symphonies nos.'' ''2, 3 & 4''. Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Paavo Berglund, Petri Komulainen, Ulf Söderblom. Finlandia Classics FINCLA 27. * ''Symphony no. 5 "Lintukoto''". Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Akateeminen laulu, Riikka Hakola (soprano), Jorma Hynninen (baritone), Jorma Panula. UHCD350.

Selected writings

* ''Sointuanalyysi'', 1968. * ''Das musikalische Material und seine Behandlung in den Werken Apparitions,

Atmosphères ''Atmosphères'' is a piece for orchestra, composed by György Ligeti in 1961. It is noted for eschewing conventional melody and metre in favor of dense sound textures. After ''Apparitions'', it was the second piece Ligeti wrote to exploit what h ...

, Aventures und Requiem von György Ligeti'' (Dissertation), 1970. * ''Tapiola: Sinfoninen runo Tapiola Sibeliuksen myöhäistyylin edustajana'', 1970. * ''Soinnutus: Harmoninen ajattelu tonaalisessa musiikissa'', 1970. * ''Tutkielmia Brahmsin sinfonioista'', 1979. * ''Jean Sibelius'', 1984. * ''Leevi Madetoja'', 1987. * ''Löytöretkiä musiikkiin: Valittuja kirjoituksia 1960–1990'', 1991. * ''Suomen musiikin historia'' 1–3, 1995–1996.

References

Literature

* Henri-Claude Fantapié: Illuminations, il est grand temps in ''Muualla, täällä: Kirjoituksia elämästä, kulttuurista, musiikista'', pp. 110–118. Ateena Kustannus, Jyväskylä. 2001. * Henri-Claude Fantapié: ''Quelques réflexions personnelles, suppositions et supputations, à propos du naïf dans l'art ou pour servir à une interprétation de l'œuvre d'Erkki Salmenhaara.'' Boréales n°9/10. 1978. pp. 244–258 * Henri-Claude Fantapié: ''Le sacré, le rituel et le profane dans deux œuvres d'Erkki Salmenhaara'' Études finno-ougriennes, Tome 41, 2009. ADÉFO L'Harmattan. * Guy Rickards:
Erkki Salmenhaara: Finnish music from the avant-garde to the euphonious.
''The Guardian'', Thursday 23 May 2002.

External links

Composer profile of Erkki Salmenhaara
at Music Finland.
Erkki Salmenhaara in 375 humanists 29.7.2015.
Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki.

The Independent, 6 April 2002. {{DEFAULTSORT:Salmenhaara, Erkki 1941 births 2002 deaths 20th-century classical composers Finnish classical composers Finnish opera composers Male opera composers Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Musicians from Helsinki Tieto-Finlandia Award winners Finnish music critics Finnish male classical composers 20th-century male musicians 20th-century Finnish composers