Erkki Melartin: life marked death, music for life

Abstract

The object of research of this article is the Finnish musical culture. The subject of the study is the life and work of composer, teacher, conductor and educator Erkka Melartin (1875-1937).The purpose of the article is to recreate the personal and creative portrait of E. Melartin as one of the outstanding musicians of Finland in the first half of the twentieth century. The author examines in detail the biography of the composer in close connection with all types of his activities, gives a description of the main directions of the composer's creativity. The author pays special attention to the administrative activities of E. Melartin as the head of the Helsingfors Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy), his conducting and pedagogical work. The main conclusions of the study: Erkki Melartin made a tremendous contribution to the development of culture and musical professional education in Finland; his impressive compositional heritage (with many influences of other composers and folklore of Karelia) has bright and distinctive features; E. Melartin is the author of the first national opera ("Aino") and the first large-scale national ballet ("Blue Pearl"). Among his students: Aarre Merikanto, Jurje Kilpinen, Vyane Raitio, Ilmari Hannikainen, Uuno Klami, Sulho Ranta and Helvi Leiviska – those who later formed the elite of the Finnish school of composition of the twentieth century. The article for the first time in Russian musicology publishes detailed information about the life, work and social activities of the composer.