history

The 1930s was a time of nationalism, politics and ideology in Finnish music. Yet the period was one of such pluralism that no unified and unifying zeitgeist can be identified; instead, the parallel existence of various ideological and aesthetic trends caused even individuals to contradict themselves.

Avanti! was formed – with an exclamation mark – in April 1983. At that time, Finland was ruled by Urho Kekkonen and Finnish music by Joonas Kokkonen. Consensus was the name of the game, and any deviation was regarded as childish provocation.

Themes in Finnish opera gradually became more diverse and international after the first opera boom in the early 20th century, when topics were primarily national. Opera became the scene of national aspirations in the 19th century. In many countries, not least its homeland, Italy, it was a means of expressing national ideals and of stressing unity. It was as much an item in political debate as drama and literature, and sometimes even more so.

Finnish experimental music has its roots in the early 1960s and the composers and musicians then in their youth. It has since acquired numerous manifestations, from aleatory, free improvisation and sonic art to avant-punk and psychedelic forest-folk.

One of the biggest influences on the Finnish music of 1969-76 was the strong political song movement. In a few years the socio-critical cabaret song born in the back-street theatres became transformed into the music of the extreme Left. The political movement petered out as the seventies drew to a close, but its songs can still be heard.

Although serious music is often looked upon as a clearly defined genre of its own, it has by no means remained immune to the influence of its surroundings. Composers have from time immemorial been spicing their works with ingredients borrowed from popular and folk music, and the Finns have been no exception in this respect. Folk music really blossomed in the music of the National Romantics of the 19th century, but it was also a major source of inspiration for many of the 20th century modernists.

The founding of the city of St. Petersburg in 1703 meant the birth of a new orientation, a source of innovative ideas and of growth potential for the Finns. Building materials and labour were imported for the new metropolis from neighbouring Finland right from the early stages, and many of the city's bridges and palaces rest on Finnish granite.

Operas and other stage works to be performed by and for children have been written in Finland since the 1940s. A new boom began in the 1980s and is still going strong.

Despite repeated and persistent efforts spanning a century, Helsinki has never had a true orchestral concert hall until this year. The new Music Centre, opening in August 2011, is the first ever venue in Finland's capital city specifically designed and intended for the performing of symphonic music.

It all began when Ellen Urho, then Rector of the Sibelius Academy, hit on the idea of launching a musical counterpart to Form Function Finland and Books from Finland, devoted to design, architecture and literature...

Finnish composers got together to form a society immediately after the war, in 1945. The following is a resume of the history of the first half decade of the Society of Finnish Composers, written in 1995 by Erkki Salmenhaara (1941–2002), at the time Associate Professor of Music at the University of Helsinki.