Erkki Melartin Explained

Erkki Gustaf Melartin (7 February 1875, Käkisalmi – 14 February 1937, Helsinki) was a Finnish 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 contemporary, Jean Sibelius, 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, Finland's national epic, but nevertheless in the style of Richard Wagner.

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, Traumgesicht (1910); the Violin Concerto in D minor (1913); the Kalevalic symphonic poem for soprano and orchestra, Marjatta (1914); The Blue Pearl, Finland's first large-scale ballet (1930); and a set of four string quartets, 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. As conductor of the Vyborg Orchestra in 1908–11, and despite chronic health problems, Melartin toured extensively (as far as North Africa and India), conducting the first performance of Gustav Mahler's music in Scandinavia, the slow movement of the Resurrection symphony in 1909.[1]

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 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 first movement – with evocations of Mahler's Resurrection symphony – to an E-flat major finale. His musical output also includes an opera, Aino (based on the character from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala),[2] a violin concerto, four string quartets, 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 Jean Sibelius 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.[3]

Selected compositions

See main article: List of compositions by Erkki Melartin.

Stage

Orchestral

Chamber music

Piano

No. 2 The Mysterious Forest

Vocal

Further reading

External links

Song by Vilhelm Krag and Erkki Melartin

Notes and References

  1. John White, Jean Christensen, Kimmo Korhonen (2002), New Music of the Nordic Countries, p.136
  2. https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000005229366.html HS: Aino ylistää luontoa ja aurinkoa – yli satavuotias ooppera taipui konsertiksi
  3. https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/47182 Prinsessa Ruusunen, opus 22 - Melartin, Erkki (1904)

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