Seppo Erkki Sakari Heikinheimo (3 June 1938 – 26 May 1997) was a Finnish

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, writer and translator. Seppo Heikinheimo's father was the pianist Sakari Heikinheimo. Seppo begun his piano studies with

Erik Tawaststjerna Erik Werner Tawaststjerna (10 October 1916 – 22 January 1993) was a Finnish musicologist who also worked as a pianist, pedagogue, and critic. He is remembered as a significant biographer of Jean Sibelius. Biography Erik Werner Tawaststjerna ...

, and after the

matriculation examination A matriculation examination or matriculation exam is a university entrance examination, which is typically held towards the end of secondary school. After passing the examination, a student receives a school leaving certificate recognising academi ...

he studied musicology and

classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public university, public Research university, research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turk ...

. He defended his Ph.D. thesis in 1972; the subject was the electronic music of

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

.''Otavan Iso Musiikkitietosanakirja 2'', p. 571. Helsinki: Otava 1977. . Heikinheimo started his journalistic career in ''

Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' (Finnish for ''The New Finland'') was a Finnish daily newspaper that was published from 1919 to 1991. The headquarters was in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Uusi Suomi'' was established in 1919 as a continuation of two ...

'' newspaper in 1959, first as a photographer and then as a writer. In 1963, recommended by Tawaststjerna, he moved on to ''

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

'' and worked the rest of his life there as a music journalist.Tarkka, Pekka
"Seppo Heikinheimo."
(Necrology.) ''Helsingin Sanomat'', 28 May 1997. On the top of that, he also worked as an

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

of the

Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra The Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (in Finnish: ; in Swedish: ; literal English translation: Helsinki City Orchestra; commonly abbreviated as HPO) is an orchestra based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1882 by Robert Kajanus, the Philharmonic ...

in the 1970s. As a critic, Heikinheimo was harsh and sharp. He only knew excellence and inferiority; mediocrity was the worst he could think of. He used W. A. Mozart and

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

as yardsticks when evaluating musical accomplishments. In the 1960s Heikinheimo was an advocate of musical modernism and radicalism but later became very suspicious of contemporary music, alienating his former friends. In the early 1990s, Heikinheimo was active in starting the Mikkeli Festival. Heikinheimo had a summer villa near Mikkeli in the near the Lake Puula in

Hirvensalmi Hirvensalmi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbour municipalities: Joutsa, Kangasniem ...

. Heikinheimo's literary output as a writer, translator and editor was wide. He wrote three voluminous biographies, on

Martti Talvela Martti Olavi Talvela (4 February 1935 – 22 July 1989) was a Finnish operatic bass. Born in Hiitola, Finland (now in the Republic of Karelia), the eighth of ten children

(1978),

Aarre Merikanto Aarre Merikanto (29 June 1893 – 28 September 1958) was a Finnish composer. He was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, the son of Elise "Liisa" Häyrynen (1869-1949) and the famous romantic composer, professor Oskar Merikanto (1868-1 ...

(1985) and

Oskar Merikanto Oskar Merikanto (; born Frans Oskar Ala-Kanto; 5 August 1868, Helsinki17 February 1924, Hausjärvi-Oitti) was a Finnish composer, music critic, pianist, and organist. As a composer, Merikanto was primarily a miniaturist, and includes songs an ...

(1995), and translated numerous works of fact and fiction into Finnish, including books by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...

, Garri Kasparov,

Yuri Lyubimov Yuri Petrovich Lyubimov (russian: Ю́рий Петро́вич Люби́мов; 5 October 2014) was a Soviet and Russian stage actor and director associated with the internationally renowned Taganka Theatre, which he founded in 1964. He was one ...

and others. Of special significance is his translation of the controversial ''

Testimony In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. La ...

'' by Dmitri Shostakovich which he made directly from the Russian-language manuscript. Heikinheimo is known to have used pen names "Antti Virtanen" ja "Raimo Ontronen". A categorical and highly controversial person, Heikinheimo was proud of his Finnish fatherland and despised the Finland's Swedish language as the language of the occupiers. He was critical of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

but was a friend of many Russian musicians like

Vladimir Ashkenazy Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy (russian: Влади́мир Дави́дович Ашкена́зи, ''Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazi''; born 6 July 1937) is an internationally recognized solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. He ...

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...

, Sergey Musaelyan. For a short period of time, he was the chairman of

Association of Finnish Culture and Identity The Association of Finnish Culture and Identity ( fi, Suomalaisuuden Liitto), also known as the Finnish Alliance, is a Finnish cultural organization. The official name of The Association is in Finnish Suomalaisuuden Liitto, in German Verband für ...

. The last vicissitudes of Heikinheimo's life were dramatic: he wrote his memoir but seemed to suffer from an unstable state of mind. After having sent the manuscript to his publisher Otava, Heikinheimo committed suicide in a

hotel room A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

in Helsinki. A couple of months later the book was published, with the uncompromising title ''Mätämunan muistelmat'' (roughly, “Memoirs of a Rotten Egg” or “Memoirs of a Pariah”). It is a book full of vivid and snarky anecdotes from home and abroad, spanning Heikinheimo's whole career, with 924 names in the personal index. Heikinheimo ends the book in

Biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

words of the

Aramaic language The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

, "Eeli, Eeli lama sabaktani."Heikinheimo, Seppo: ''Mätämunan muistelmat'', p. 511. Memoir. Helsinki: Otava, 1997. . Seppo Heikinheimo was married to the singer (mezzo-soprano) Päivi Heikinheimo.

Books

* ''The Electronic Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen: Studies on the Esthetical and Formal Problems of its First Phase.'' Translated by Brad Absetz. Acta Musicologica Fennica, 6. Ph.D. thesis. Helsinki University. Helsinki: Suomen musiikkitieteellinen seura, 1972. * ''Stereo-opas.'' Helsinki: Tammi, 1973. . * Ontronen, Raimo: ''Tehtävä Sorokassa.'' Hämeenlinna: Karisto, 1977. . * ''Martti Talvela: Jättiläisen muotokuva.'' Helsinki: Otava, 1978. . * ''Aarre Merikanto: Säveltäjänkohtalo itsenäisessä Suomessa.'' Helsinki: WSOY, 1985. . * ''Oskar Merikanto ja hänen aikansa.'' Helsinki: Otava, 1995. . * ''Mätämunan muistelmat.'' Memoir. Helsinki: Otava, 1997. .

References

External links

* Laitinen, Kai
"Seppo Heikinheimo: Mätämunan muistelmat."
''Helsingin Sanomat'', 23 October 1997. * Lång, Markus

''Valitetut teokset: Esseitä ja arvosteluja 1991–2011'', pp. 363–368. (Helsinki 2014.) * Tarkka, Pekka
"Seppo Heikinheimo."
''Helsingin Sanomat'', 27 May 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Heikinheimo, Seppo 1938 births 1997 deaths Finnish musicologists Finnish music critics Finnish translators University of Helsinki alumni Finnish memoirists 20th-century translators 20th-century Finnish male musicians 20th-century Finnish male writers 20th-century musicologists 20th-century Finnish journalists 20th-century memoirists 1997 suicides Suicides in Finland