The following is a list of the works of the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja. In total, his oeuvre comprises 82 works with opus numbers and about 40 without. While Madetoja composed in all genres, he found his greatest success with the orchestra: symphonies, operas, cantatas, and orchestral miniatures all flowed from his pen. [1] [2] Curiously, he composed no concerti, although at various times in his career he hinted at plans for a violin concerto. [3] Madetoja was also an accomplished composer for voice, as his numerous choral pieces and songs for voice and piano evidence; he found less success with—and composed sparingly for—solo piano. [4] Finally, Madetoja wrote little for chamber ensemble after his student years, [4] [1] although it is unclear if this was due to insufficient skill or waning interest in the genre.
Today, Madetoja is primarily remembered for his set of three symphonies (1916, 1918, and 1926, respectively); two operas, The Ostrobothnians (1924) and Juha (1935); the ballet-pantomime, Okon Fuoko (1927); the Elegia from the Symphonic Suite (1909); the Kalevalic symphonic poem, Kullervo (1913); and, The Garden of Death (1918, r. 1919), a three-movement suite for solo piano. In the inventory that follows, the dates provided indicate the year of composition, unless otherwise preceded by an "r.", for revision; an "a.", for arrangement; or, an "fp.", for first performance. Where possible, names in the original Finnish are included, with English translations in parentheses.
At present, this list is incomplete, particularly in the songs and choral works subsections.
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Voice and orchestra (still to source)
The complete songs for unaccompanied male choir have been recorded by the YL Male Voice Choir under the Finlandia Label, over three volumes. In the list that follows, '*' signifies a song on Vol. I, '†' a song on Vol. II, and '‡' a song on Vol. III.
also on Vol. I: Op. 30b/3 – Tuolla ylhaal asunnoissa (Up There In the Mansions)
also on Vol. II: Op. 57/1 – Läksin minä kesäyönä käymään (One Night in Summer)
also on Vol. III: Lauluseppele (A Garland of Song): 1) Muistojen laulu (Song of Memories), 2) Serenadi (Serenade), and 3) Hymni Isänmaalle (Hymn to the Fatherland)
From 2001–02, Gabriel Suovanen (baritone) and Helena Juntunen (soprano) recorded the complete songs for solo voice and piano under the Ondine label (piano accompaniment: Gustav Djupsjöbacka). In the list that follows, '*' signifies a soprano recording and '†' a baritone recording. Note, however, that many of Madetoja's songs can be sung by either male or female voice.
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Leevi Antti Madetoja 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 contemporaries of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1908 to 1910.
Selim Gustaf Adolf Palmgren 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, then continued his piano studies in Berlin with Ansorge, Berger and Busoni. He conducted choral and orchestral societies in his own country and made several very successful concert tours as a pianist in the principal cities of Finland and Scandinavia, appearing also as a visiting conductor. In 1921, he went to the United States, where he taught composition at the Eastman School of Music, later returning to Finland, where he died in Helsinki, aged 73. Palmgren was married to the opera singer Maikki Järnefelt.
Uuno (Kalervo) Klami was a Finnish composer of the modern period. He is widely recognized as one of the most significant Finnish composers to emerge from the generation that followed Jean Sibelius.
Erkki Olavi Salmenhaara was a Finnish composer and musicologist.
Mikko Kyösti Heiniö is a Finnish composer and musicologist.
Toivo Timoteus Kuula was a Finnish composer and conductor of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods, who emerged in the wake of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1906 to 1908. The core of Kuula's oeuvre are his many works for voice and orchestra, in particular the Stabat mater, The Sea-Bathing Maidens (1910), Son of a Slave (1910), and The Maiden and the Boyar's Son (1912). In addition he also composed two Ostrobothnian Suites for orchestra and left an unfinished symphony at the time of his murder in 1918 in a drunken quarrel.
Juhani Komulainen is a Finnish composer of modern classical music. He lives in Helsinki.
The Ostrobothnians, Op. 45, is a verismo opera in three acts written from 1917 to 1924 by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja. The story, variously comedic and tragic, takes place around 1850 in the historical Finnish province of Ostrobothnia and features as its central conflict the deteriorating relationship between the farm community and its oppressive sheriff.
Helsinki Academic Male Choir KYL, founded in 1949, is an academic male choir from Helsinki, Finland. The choir is associated closely with Aalto University School of Business, consisting mainly of students and alumni of the university.
Academic cantatas are two cantatas for university graduation ceremonies by Jean Sibelius. He composed a Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1894, and a Cantata for the University Graduation Ceremonies of 1897, both scored for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra. One movement of the 1894 work was published as Juhlamarssi. Only the vocal score of the 1897 work survived, published as Nine Songs for Chorus, Op. 23.
L. Onerva was a Finnish poet. Onerva also wrote short stories and novels and worked as a translator and critic. In her works, she often dealt with tension in women's lives concerning freedom and commitment. She is also remembered for her complicated relationship with Eino Leino, as well as her marriage to the composer Leevi Madetoja.
The Symphony No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 35, is a four-movement orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, who wrote the piece from 1916–18 immediately following the success of his First Symphony (1916). Composed during the Finnish Civil War, the Second stands as "the most significant musical document" of the conflict and finds its composer, "deeply scarred by the experience", reflecting upon national tragedy and personal loss. Accordingly, Madetoja's Second is the longest and most dramatic of his three essays in the form and, perhaps for this reason, is the most popular of the set.
Elegia, Op. 4/1, is a composition for string orchestra by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, who wrote the piece in 1909 during his student years. On 10 January 1910, Robert Kajanus, chief conductor of the Helsinki Orchestral Society, premiered the Elegia to great acclaim, with the piece described as the "first master work" of a budding "natural orchestral composer". Madetoja subsequently designated the Elegia as the first number in his four-movement Sinfoninen sarja, Op. 4, which the Helsinki Orchestral Society performed in its entirety under the composer's baton on 26 September 1910. The suite's three other numbers are virtually unknown, and the Elegia typically is performed as a stand-alone concert piece. Stylistically reminiscent of Tchaikovsky, it is, to date, Madetoja's most recorded and well-known orchestral composition, as well as the most enduringly popular of his many miniatures.
Okon Fuoko, Op. 58, is a ballet-pantomime for orchestra, vocal soloists, and choir by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja, who wrote the piece from 1925–27 concurrent with the composition of his Third Symphony. The Japonisme-influenced libretto is by Danish playwright Poul Knudsen. The story takes place in ancient Japan and, similar to Coppélia, centers around the (successful) efforts of the eponymous puppet-maker to bring a female creation to life. The result is a tragic love-triangle between the seductive doll, the infatuated Okon Fuoko, and his devastated wife. With its unique and exotic musical language, Okon Fuoko is one of Madetoja's "finest" scores; indeed, the last of his "masterpieces".
Juha, Op. 74, is a verismo opera in three acts—comprising six tableaux—written from 1931 to 1934 by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja. The libretto, a collaboration between Madetoja and the Finnish soprano Aino Ackté, is based on Juhani Aho's 1911 novel by the same name. The story takes place on the border between West Karelia and East Karelia, and features as its central conflict a love triangle between the farmer Juha, his young wife Marja, and a Karelian merchant, Shemeikka. Disillusioned with rural life and seduced by promises of material comfort and romance, Marja runs away with Shemeikka; Juha, who maintains his wife has been abducted, eventually discovers her betrayal and commits suicide by jumping into the rapids.
Poul Knudsen was a Danish writer. Knudsen worked on symbolistic and exotic themes. He collaborated with Finnish composers Jean Sibelius in 1911 on the tragic ballet-pantomime, Scaramouche, and with Leevi Madetoja in 1927 on a second ballet-pantomime, Okon Fuoko. The premieres of each production, however, were delayed and, upon being premiered, Knudsen was faulted for weak libretti.
Kullervo, Op. 15, is a symphonic poem for orchestra written in 1913 by Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja. The piece premiered on 14 October 1913 with Madetoja conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic Society.
Chess, Op. 5, is a theatre score—comprising four numbers—for orchestra by the Finnish composer Leevi Madetoja; he wrote the music in 1910 to accompany the Finnish author Eino Leino's one-act "historical tableau" of the same name. In particular, Madetoja's music occurs during the pantomime divertissement in the middle of the play. The scene, a dream sequence in which 16 white and 16 black chess pieces come to life and play a game, is an allegory for the political intrigue that transpired in 1464 between rivals for the Swedish thrown: Charles VIII of Sweden and Christian I of Denmark. Chess premiered on 15 February 1910 in Helsinki at Finnish National Theatre during a lottery soirée, with Madetoja conducting the Apostol's Concert Orchestra.
Hymn of the Earth, Op. 95, is a single-movement cantata for mixed choir and orchestra written in 1919–1920 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece, which is a setting of Eino Leino's Finnish language poem of the same name, is the third in a series of four "little known, but beautiful" cantatas from the composer's mature period—including My Own Land ; Song of the Earth ; and Väinämöinen’s Song. Hymn of the Earth premiered on 4 April 1920 in Helsinki.