Edvard Armas Järnefelt (14 August 1869 – 23 June 1958), was a Finnish and Swedish conductor and composer, who achieved some minor success with his orchestral works (1904) and ''Praeludium'' (1900). He spent much of his conducting career at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Life

Armas Järnefelt was born in

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

, in the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

, the son of General August Aleksander Järnefelt and Elisabeth Järnefelt (née Clodt von Jürgensburg). Järnefelt studied with

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

and with

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Both Järnefelt and Busoni enjoyed a close relationship with

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his countr ...

, who was married to Järnefelt's sister Aino. From 1905 Järnefelt had a long career as conductor at the

, beginning as repetiteur from 1905 to 1911 (he became a Swedish citizen in 1909); conductor 1911-1923 and chief conductor 1923–1933. Between 1932 and 1936 Järnefelt was the artistic director and conductor of the Finnish National Opera. He presented, among others,

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

and

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

from

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

Ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

cycle, and Parsifal. He was the principal conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra 1942–1943, and also returned to the Royal Swedish Opera as chief conductor from 1938 to 1946. He died in

Works

Järnefelt's musical works include: * ''Lyrical Overture'' (1892) * ''Lapsuuden ajoilta'' (Childhood Days, 1892) 4-hand piano * ''Serenade for Small Orchestra'' in B minor (1893) * Symphonic poem ''Korsholma'' (Korsholm, 1894) * ''Symphonic Fantasy'' for orchestra (1895) * Symphonic poem ''Heimathklang'' (The Sound of Home, 1895) * 3 Piano Pieces Op.4 (1897) * Suite in E-flat major for orchestra (1897) * ''Finnish Rhapsody'' (1899) * ''Praeludium'' (1900) * ''Festive Overture'' (1902) * (1904) In addition, he composed more than 70 solo songs, 21 pieces for male chorus, 12 part-songs for mixed chorus, and 13 cantatas. His ''Berceuse'' (1904) arranged for violin and piano is included in the Royal Conservatory of Music grade 7 violin repertoire (Canada). Järnefelt also wrote stage and film music, e.g. for the film ''Song of the Scarlet Flower'' (1919), directed by Mauritz Stiller, possibly the first original film music by a Nordic composer.

Family life

His siblings were , a critic and translator of Russian literature; the writer Arvid Järnefelt (the incidental music for his play '' Kuolema'' was written by

); the painter

Eero Järnefelt Erik "Eero" Nikolai Järnefelt (8 November 1863 – 15 November 1937) was a Finnish painter and art professor. He is best known for his portraits and landscapes of the area around Koli National Park, in the North Karelia region of Finland. He wa ...

(Erik); Ellida; Ellen, Aino (who married Sibelius); Hilja; and Sigrid. He was married twice: firstly to the soprano Maikki Järnefelt (née Pakarinen) from 1893 to 1908 (she subsequently married Selim Palmgren), and secondly in 1910 to the opera singer Liva Edström.

Legacy

In June 2012 a display of Järnefelt paraphernalia was opened in the entrance of the Sibelius Academy situated in the Helsinki Music Center.

References

External links

* 1869 births 1958 deaths Burials at Hietaniemi Cemetery Finnish classical composers Finnish conductors (music) Finnish male classical composers Finnish emigrants to Sweden Finnish people of German descent Litteris et Artibus recipients Naturalized citizens of Sweden People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Musicians from Vyborg Swedish classical composers Swedish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Swedish male classical composers 19th-century Finnish nobility Armas {{finland-composer-stub