Leo Funtek (August 21, 1885 – January 13, 1965) was a Slovenian

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 ...

ist, conductor and arranger. He is best known for work as a music professor and for his 1922 arrangement of

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

's piano suite ''

Pictures at an Exhibition ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', french: Tableaux d'une exposition, link=no is a suite (music), suite of ten piano pieces, plus a recurring, varied Promenade theme, composed by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874. The piece is Mussorgsky's ...

''. Funtek was born in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. He received his musical education at the Leipzig Conservatory (now the

Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

) and

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. Funtek spent most of his working life in

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 ...

, where he was conductor of the Finnish Opera. He was concertmaster with 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 ...

from 1906 to 1909, and then was orchestra director of the Viipuri orchestra from 1909 to 1910. His most prominent role as a practicing musician was as conductor of the Finnish Opera from 1915 to 1959. He also served as assistant concertmaster for the

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 ...

court orchestra from 1916 to 1919. In addition to his work as a practicing musician, Funtek was an academician. His first such post was from 1911 to 1939, at the Helsinki Institute of Music (now 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 als ...

), where he taught violin, ensemble and orchestration. He later taught at the

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 ...

, where he was a professor of violin at from 1939 to 1955, and where he also taught the conducting class from 1950 to 1955.Anu Konttinen
Conductor Education in Finland
Finnish Music Quarterly, March 2006 He is credited with the introduction of orchestral training into the conducting class. Funtek's students included

Jorma Panula Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Klaus ...

, who himself went to become a leading professor of conducting; as well as

Helvi Leiviskä Helvi Lemmikki Leiviskä (25 May 1902 — 12 August 1982) was a Finnish composer, writer, music educator and librarian at the Sibelius Academy. Life Helvi Leiviskä was born in 1902 in Helsinki, Finland, and in 1927 graduated in composition from ...

(1902–1982) and

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 ...

(1903–1973), two of Finland's most prominent female composers; and the composer Usko Meriläinen. As an arranger, Funtek is best known for his orchestral arrangement of ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', which he published in July 1922, just months before an orchestration by the French composer

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

, of whose project Funtek was seemingly unaware. Ravel's orchestration premiered in October 1922, and is now by far the most-performed of the several orchestrations of the suite. In contrast to other orchestrations, Funtek's adheres closely to Mussorgsky's original piano version. Funtek was married to Finnish soprano Ingeborg Liljeblad. He died in Helsinki.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funtek, Leo Slovenian academics Slovenian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Slovenian classical violinists Male classical violinists Slovenian classical composers Slovenian male musicians Musicians from Ljubljana Musicians from Helsinki 1885 births 1965 deaths Academic personnel of the Sibelius Academy University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni Concertmasters Male classical composers 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century male musicians Slovenian emigrants to Finland