Finnish Choral Music By Jeffrey Sandborg Jeffrey Sandborg is Assistant Professor of Music and tion is a set of twenty "Piae Cantiones" arrangements for Chairman of the Department of Music at Pikeville College, mixed chorus by Heikki Klemetti. Pikeville, Kentucky. Between 1978 and 1979 Sandborg studied in Helsinki, Finland at both the Sibelius Academy and Helsinki University as an ITT Fellow. His D.M.A. in choral music is in progress at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Finnish choral music rarely has been performed in the United States nor has much been written in the English language on the subject. The repertory remains largely unex­ amined not for lack of interest but, for lack of ready informa­ tion and materials. The Finnish language presents a for­ midable barrier to any kind of bibliographic inquiry, and ~:;fr:ff$~*lE~:[f. translations ofeven the simplest Finnish text settings nearly ==~: ~~=t=~~~::;_L3..:==::::-= 0,. 1111 llurU1/J ~ mo hgger in pr"fi1'i 0<\1 (om e'olrn are impossible for a non-speaker or for someone without ac­ (tijncr cess to a Finn. Contributing to the problem is that Finland has not been a country to propagate its music outside its borders. Further, the principal music publisher, Fazer, relies on an agent in the U.S. to advertise and distribute its publications. Sad to say, the agent has no catalogues or lists and all orders go directly to Finland, followed by a wait of up wRh-S-'--~....--------I--- to three months for delivery. Clearly acquisition of a score is ~- ~~:=~--j-===== made by only the most determined customer. With these (,). ""{ph.:: (s 6-. tJ. kinds of obstacles it is not surprising thatthe repertory re­ mains a mystery to American choral directors. The purpose of this article is to provide some useful infor­ While Finland was a province of Sweden, Turku (Abo)," on mation about Finnish choral music: first, to sketch the history of Finnish music; second, to discuss briefly a few con­ the western shore of Finland, was the capital. In 1790, the Turku Music Society was founded, marking an important temporary Finnish composers, offering examples of their step in the development of music in Finland. Later the Socie­ choral work; third, to present a list ofchoral literature with a Latin, German or English text; finally, to provide some ty was moved to Helsinki when that city became capital in sources for further information and materials. 1812 of the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Tsars. HISTORY In the second half of the nineteenth century several impor­ tant developments profoundly affected Finnish music: first, Finland's musical history is short compared to that of in 1812, the orchestra which today is the Helsinki Philhar­ most other European countries. Subordinate to Sweden from monic was founded as well as the Helsinki Music College ­ 1105-1809 and then to Russia until 1917, Finland had no today the Sibelius Academy; second, the Finns were court of its own to cultivate a musical culture. Early Finnish discovering their national identity largely through the music was mainly folk music. Vocal music was primarily publication of Elias Lonrot's Kalevala in 1849. The Finnish rune-chanting with Finnish mythology providing textual national epic Kalevala influenced creation in all of the arts content. This type of singing was accompanied by the string­ (several of Sibelius' works were inspired by it: "Kullervo" ed "kantele", the Finnish national instrument. Symphony, "Lemminkainen" Symphony, et all. Further, In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a collection of Kalevala raised the Finnish language to a stature equal to 1-4 part church and school songs became very popular in Swedish, until then the language of the educated classes. Finland (still part of Sweden). Published in 1582, the "Piae Musically, the emergence of Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) was Cantiones" is a very important monument in the history of one of the most important factors of the late nineteenth cen­ Finnish music because it provides most of what is known tury. Sibelius captured in music the "Finnishness" of his about the country's body of sacred non-liturgical Latin song. culture at a time when Finns were looking for faith in their Early manuscripts of the collection and clues to its use have own identity and abilities. Therein he positively affected the been lost or destroyed. 1. country's push for independence which was won in 1917. - The Piae Cantiones is the source of two carols which have Though his legacy did much for Finland's international become famous through a variety of settings: "Puer nobis reputation, the confidence that his music inspired in the Fin­ nascitur" ("Unto us a son is born") and "In dulci jubilo". nish people was not shared by all Finnish composers who Fazer publishes a facsimile of the complete "Piae Can­ were his contemporaries. Instead, many composers worked tiones Ecclesiasticae et Scholasticae Veterum Episcoporum" in the long shadow of Sibelius for nearly half a century. (1582). The volume includes several pages of useful informa­ Three contemporaries of Sibelius who flourished even in tion in English by musicologist Timo Makinen. There are his presence were Selim Palmgran (1887-1947), Toivo Kuula two volumes which include songs from the 1582 and 1625 (1883-1918) and Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947). All three, alo!1g editions set in modern notation. Another valuable publica- with Sibelius, wrote a significant amount of choral music, much of which is considered to be of superior quality. Because the texts of these compositions are almost entirely 'Left. "Puer nobis nascitur". Right. "In dulci jubilo". From "Piae Can­ tiones", Documenta Musicae Fennicae X, pp. 15 and 34, Fazer, 1967, Helsinki. in Finnish and because they are more difficult to obtain, they Used by permission. will be excluded from this brief discussion. APRIL 1982 Page 11 POST WAR YEARS poraries. Bergman's vocal effects include whispering, glissandi, declamation, vocalization of different vowels and World War II was a pivotal period for Finnish music. As in consonants, clusters and controlled improvisation. Very most other European countries, the war completely often his choral works are divided into main chorus, semi­ disrupted musical life. The following years provided fertile chorus and soloists. He uses speaking choruses frequently as soil for a new generation of Finnish composers who con­ part of a work or alone. sciously tried to avoid any Sibelian influence. "Nox", op. 65, scored for baritone, mixed chorus, flute, A renewed interest in choral singing led to the establish­ English horn and sixteen percussion instruments, illustrates ment of new choirs and gradually to more refinement in Bergman's imaginative combination of vocal and instrumen­ musical and vocal skills. Though the decade and a half tal colors. Instruments, usually exotic combinations, are following the war was extremely productive in Finnish often used with his choral compositions. musical life in general, and choral activity in particular, it Tone clusters, "sprechgesang" and declamation are just a was not until the late 1950's and early 1960's that Finnish few of the musical means employed in "Nox" to capture the composers once again began to write steadily for that atmosphere of the four diverse "night" poems, each in a dif­ medium. Much of this interest was generated by several ferent language: first-rate choirs (such as the Finnish Radio Chorus) which I. Italian had matured from their early beginnings in the fifties and II. German these same choirs began to offer attractive commissions as III. French well. The result was a compositional surge in a wide variety IV. English of styles for men's, women's, and children's choirs. Three composers who stand out as the most significant The experimental dimension of Bergman's style may be contributors to Finnish choral music in the years since the observed in "Dreams", op. 85 for treble voices, an example of war are Erik Bergman, Bengt Johansson, and Joonas Kok­ some of his most recent work (published in 1978, Fazer). The konen all of whom belong to the older generation of com­ composition reveals his interest in the expressive posers and who are still active today. possibilities of the voice. The composer himself describes "Dreams" as an attempt BERGMAN at a kind of "controlled improvisation", a technique which characterizes much of his recent work. Each of the three sec­ Erik Bergman (b. 1911) has been one of the most pro­ tions, about 4 minutes in duration, develops particular vowel gressive and creative of Finnish choral composers though he or consonant sounds. The result is a collage of gradually ac­ is not limited to that medium. Ifone attempted to generalize cumulated vocal effects. The thickening of texture is not ac­ about Bergman's style it would best be described as ex­ companied by an increase in volume. Rather, the dynamic perimental and eclectic. Among Finnish composers he was range is tightly controlled with each final climax all moving something of a pioneer in the exploration of non-traditional to a very low dynamic level. expressive possibilities of the human voice though his treat­ Dreams, 1978, Fazer. Used by permission. ment is by no means radical among his Western contem- F.or Er1'l1rl Poh}olQ and hi, Topiolu Choir PRESBYTERIAN ASSOCIATION Dreams OF MUSICIANS I ANNOUNCES ERIK BERGMAN, op. 85 (5)15" @p" I :; ;; ,z" i ~4" "if p --== THE 1982 U-U- - ----------------U __• PPt- u---------- _: II MONTREAT CONFERENCES l'Pu @15" ON WORSHIP & MUSIC A A A " A ....---.. •• 51 mf FACULTY u _hu u-hu-hu Pu:=:"a ~a~-u--------: CAROLEE CURTRIGHT DAVID MC CORMICK • • l'P ARLO DUBA DANIEL MOE A u • JUDY HUNNICUTT • SUE ELLEN PAGE • PETER HURFORD • SCHUYLER ROBINSON II • • p -=="!~ -=="! MICHAEL KEMP VIRGINIA THOMAS u_.