Erkki Gustaf Melartin (7 February 1875,

Käkisalmi Priozersk (russian: Приозе́рск; fi, Käkisalmi; sv, Kexholm) is a town and the administrative center of Priozersky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern ...

– 14 February 1937,

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 ...

) was a

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, conductor, and teacher of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods. Melartin is generally considered to be one of Finland's most significant national Romantic composers, although his music—then and now—largely has been overshadowed by that of his exact contemporary,

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 ...

, the country's most famous composer. The core of Melartin's consists of a set of six (completed) symphonies, as well as is his opera, ''Aino'', based on a story from the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and r ...

'', Finland's

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with as ...

, but nevertheless in the style of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

. Melartin's other notable works include the popular wedding tune, ''Festive March'' (1904; from the incidental music to the play, ''Sleeping Beauty''); the

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

, ''Traumgesicht'' (1910); the Violin Concerto in

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

(1913); the Kalevalic symphonic poem for soprano and orchestra, ''Marjatta'' (1914); ''The Blue Pearl'', Finland's first large-scale

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

(1930); and a set of four

string quartet 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 ...

s, composed between 1896 and 1910. In addition, a number of Melartin's songs for solo voice and piano have found a lasting place in the Finnish repertoire. Two additional projected symphonies, the Seventh and Eighth, might have further solidified his reputation, both within Finland and internationally, but the development of each was cut short by Melartin's death, at age 62.

Career

As well as composing, Melartin also taught and directed music at the Helsinki Music College, later the Helsinki Conservatory. His students included composer and conductor

Heidi Sundblad-Halme Heidi Gabriella Wilhelmina Sundblad-Halme (25 September 1903 – 30 April 1973) was a Finnish composer and conductor who founded the Helsinki Women’s Orchestra and conducted it for 30 years. Career Sundblad-Halme was born in Jakobstad, where her ...

. As conductor of the

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...

Orchestra in 1908–11, and despite chronic health problems, Melartin toured extensively (as far as

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

), conducting the first performance of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's music in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, the slow movement of the ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

'' symphony in 1909. Although Melartin was chiefly a lyricist, the symphony was central to his musical output. He wrote six symphonies (1902–1924) and was the first Finnish composer to bear Mahler's influence. The fourth symphony uses a

vocalise A vocal warm-up is a series of exercises meant to prepare the voice for singing, acting, or other use. There is very little scientific data about the benefits of vocal warm-ups. Relatively few studies have researched the effects of thesexercis ...

like that of Carl Nielsen's '' Sinfonia Espansiva''. The fifth is a ''Sinfonia brevis'' ending in a fugue and chorale, while the sixth, harmonically more advanced than the other five, advances stepwise from a

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

first movement – with evocations of Mahler's ''Resurrection'' symphony – to an

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

finale. His musical output also includes an opera, '' Aino'' (based on the

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

from the Finnish national epic, the ''

''), 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 ...

, four

s, and many piano pieces. His works therefore are divided mainly into large-scale works for orchestra, and chamber pieces for much smaller groups and soloists. Despite working in the same time period as

he was not influenced by the more famous composer's style, and his work has been largely overshadowed by that of Finland's most revered composer. The ''Juhlamarssi'' (Festive March) from his ballet ''Sleeping Beauty'' is the most popular wedding march in Finland.Prinsessa Ruusunen, opus 22 - Melartin, Erkki (1904)
- Doria.fi (in Finnish)

Selected compositions

Stage

* '' Aino'', Opera in 2 acts, Op. 50 (1912) * ''Sininen helmi'' (''The Blue Pearl''), Ballet, Op. 160 (1930) * ''Prinsessa Ruusunen'' (''Sleeping Beauty''), incidental music, Op. 22 (1904)

Orchestral

* Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 1 (1902) * ''Siikajoki'', Symphonic Poem, Op. 28 (1903) * Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30 No. 2 (1904) * ''Prinsessa Ruusunen'' (Sleeping Beauty), Suite from incidental music, Op. 22 (1904, 1911) * Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 40 (1906–07
/ Score, preface in English
* ''Traumgesicht'', Symphonic Poem, Op. 70 (1910
/ Score, preface in English
* ''Patria'', Symphonic Poem, Op. 72 (1911) * ''Marjatta'', Symphonic Song for soprano and orchestra Op. 79 (1014
/ Score, preface in English
* Symphony No. 4 ''"Kesäsinfonia"'' (Summer Symphony) in E major, Op. 80 (1912
/ Score, preface in English
* ''Lyric Suite No. 3 "Impressions de Belgique"'', EM144 (1915-1916) * Symphony No. 5 ''"Sinfonia brevis"'' in A minor, Op. 90 (1915
/ Score, preface in English
* Symphony No. 6, Op. 100 (1924) * Divertimento, Op. 152 (1928) * Intermezzo, Op. 147 (1929) * ''Sininen helmi'', Suite from the ballet, Op. 160 (1930) * Symphony No. 7 ''"Sinfonia gaia"'', Op. 149 (1935–1936, part 1 ready, sketches for other parts) * Symphony No. 8, Op. 186 (1936–1937, unfinished and fragmental) * Symphony No. 9, OP. 188 (1930's, just some structural plans exist) * Concerto in D minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 60 (1913)

Chamber music

* String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, Op. 36 No. 1 (1896) * Sonata for violin and piano (1899) * String Quartet No. 2 in G minor, Op. 36 No. 2 (1900) * String Quartet No. 3 in E, Op. 36 No. 3 (1902) * String Quartet No. 4 in F, Op. 62 (1910) * ''Nocturne'' for violin and piano, Op. 64 No. 1 * ''Kuusi helppoa kappaletta'' (6 Easy Pieces) for cello (or violin) and piano, Op.121 * String Trio, Op. 133 (1927) * Sonata for flute and harp, Op. 135a (1927) * Sonata for brass, Op. 153 (1929) * Trio for flute, clarinet and bassoon, Op. 154 (1929) * ''Pieni kvartetto'' (Little Quartet) for four horns, Op. 185

Piano

* ''Marionetteja'' (Marionnettes), Suite for piano 4 hands, Op. 1 (1899) * ''2 Ballads'', Op. 5 (1899) * ''Lastuja I'' (Chips I), 6 pieces, Op. 7 (1900) * ''3 Pieces'', Op. 8 (1899) * ''Lastuja II'' (Chips II), 6 pieces, Op. 9 (1900) * ''Skizzer'', 5 Pieces, Op. 11 * ''Legend II'', Op. 12 (1900) * ''Lastuja III'' (Chips III), 5 pieces, Op. 34 (1906) * ''Lastuja IV'' (Chips IV), 5 pieces, Op. 48 (1907) * ''Surullinen puutarha'' (The Melancholy Garden), 5 Pieces, Op. 52 (1908) * ''Lyric Pieces'', Op. 59 (1909) * ''4 Pieces'', Op. 75 * ''9 Little Pieces'', Op. 76 * ''Album Leaves'', Op. 83 * 4 Sonatinas, Op. 84 * ''24 Preludes'', Op. 85 (1913–20) * ''Noli me tangere'', Op. 87 (1914) * ''3 Pieces'', Op. 98 (1916?) * ''Skuggspel'', 7 Pieces, Op.104 * ''Fantasia apocaliptica'', Op. 111 (1921) * ''6 Pieces'', Op. 118 (1923) : No. 2 ''The Mysterious Forest'' * ''6 Pieces'', Op. 123 (1924–1925)

Vocal

* ''3 Songs'' for voice and piano, Op. 13 * ''Kansanlaulua Käkisalmelta'' (Folk Songs from

Kexholm Priozersk (russian: Приозе́рск; fi, Käkisalmi; sv, Kexholm) is a town and the administrative center of Priozersky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the northwestern shore of Lake Ladoga, at the estuary of the northern a ...

), Op. 55 * ''5 Songs'' for voice and piano, Op. 69 * ''3 Songs'' for voice and piano, Op. 77 * ''3 Songs'' for voice and piano, Op. 86 * ''4 Songs'' for voice and piano, Op. 95

References

External links

Erkki Melartin SocietyOndine Records Melartin Site
* Song by Vilhelm Krag and Erkki Melartin
Erkki Melartin
on

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

''O, Herre:''
1918 recording by

Eleonora Olson Between 1905 and 1925 Eleonora and Ethel Olson were well-known figures in Scandinavian communities throughout the United States. They toured extensively in the Midwest, and their recordings on major record labels gained them a nationwide following. ...

''O, Herre:''
lyrics by

Vilhelm Krag Vilhelm Krag (24 December 1871 – 10 July 1933) was a Norwegian poet, author, journalist and cultural personality. Known for coining the term Sørlandet to describe a region of Norway, he was the son of Peter Rasmus Krag and younger brother o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melartin, Erkki 1875 births 1937 deaths People from Priozersk People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish conductors (music) Finnish classical composers Finnish opera composers Male opera composers 20th-century classical composers Finnish male classical composers Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century male musicians 20th-century Finnish composers