Tauno Kullervo Pylkkänen (March 22, 1918 – March 13, 1980) was a Finnish composer. He was a popular opera composer and was nicknamed during his lifetime as ''Northern Puccini''. Pylkkänen was an orphan born in Helsinki during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

whom actor Hilma Rantanen and office manager Väinö Veikko Pylkkänen adopted as their foster son from a newspaper advertisement. His real father, Heikki Pakarinen, who had fallen into the

Red Guard Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...

against his will, died in the Hämeenlinna prison camp in August 1918. Pylkkänen was a student of

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

Selim Palmgren Selim Gustaf Adolf Palmgren (16 February 1878 – 13 December 1951) was a Finnish composer, pianist, and conductor. Palmgren was born in Pori, Finland, February 16, 1878. He studied at the Conservatory in Helsinki from 1895 to 1899, th ...

, and studied at the

Helsinki Conservatory 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 ...

, then in Paris, Rome, and Vienna. He made his breakthrough as a composer with the opera ''Mare ja hänen poikansa'' (1943) after

Aino Kallas Aino Krohn Kallas (2 August 1878 – 9 November 1956) was a Finnish-Estonian author. Her novellas are considered to be prominent pieces of Finnish literature.Finnish Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...

in 1945. It was followed by ten more operas, including the internationally successful ''Sudenmorsian'' (1950). From 1960 to 1967 he was artistic director of the Finnish Opera. In addition to the operas he composed a symphony, a symphonic fantasy, six symphonic poems, a cello concerto, chamber music works, a cantata, film music, a choir cycle for women's voices, songs and two song cycles.

Personal life

Pylkkänen was

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

, which was not publicly known during his lifetime. His friend, assistant professor , revealed the matter in her 2000 memoir. In December 1948, Pylkkänen was caught in a police raid on a "gay meeting place" and brought to justice (homosexuality was a crime in Finland until 1971), but he was acquitted and the case was not made public. Later, Pylkkänen suffered from alcoholism, depression and memory problems. His ability to work waned soon after finishing the ''Unknown Soldier'', so he stopped composing at the age of 49 and was on leave from the National Opera in May 1968. His last major work was a missed manuscript on the history of the Finnish National Opera. In his last years he spent a quiet life in the in Etu-Töölö, Helsinki.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pylkkanen, Tauno Finnish composers Finnish male composers Musicians from Helsinki 1918 births 1980 deaths 20th-century male musicians LGBT classical composers Finnish LGBT people