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Aarre Merikanto
Aarre Merikanto
	Merikanto (c. 1950s)
Born	29 June 1893; Helsinki, Finland
Died	28 September 1958 (aged 65); Helsinki, Finland
Spouses	Meri Grönmark; Evi Mähönen;
Children	4 (including Ukri Merikanto)
Parent(s)	Oskar Merikanto; Liisa Häyrynen

Aarre Merikanto (29 June 1893 – 28 September 1958) was a Finnish composer.^[1]

He was born in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, the son of Elise "Liisa" Häyrynen (1869–1949) and the famous romantic composer, professor Oskar Merikanto (1868–1924). His childhood he spent in Vilppula, Finland. He married Meri Grönmark in 1919. They had two daughters, Anna Marjatta Peltonen (née Merikanto) and Arma Kyllikki Tukia (née Merikanto). He later married Evi Sylvia Mähönen (1910–1968). They had two sons, Ukri Uolevi Merikanto (1950–2010), a sculptor and Pan Ylermi Merikanto (1951–2012).^[2] He is considered a key figure in early Finnish modernism (together with Väinö Raitio and Ernest Pingoud) and several of his works, most notably the opera Juha, have obtained posthumous attention.^[3] As professor of composition in the Sibelius Academy (1951–1958) Merikanto taught several Finnish composers of the next generation, including Einojuhani Rautavaara, Usko Meriläinen, Aulis Sallinen and Paavo Heininen.^[1]

He studied music in Helsinki 1911, Leipzig 1912–1914 and Moscow 1916–1917. Merikanto's early style was rooted in Finnish romanticism, but in the 1920s he developed a personal, atonal but not dodecaphonic Modernist style. The reception of Merikanto's works of this period was mixed: the "Schott" Concerto for nine instruments was awarded in a competition organized by the German publishers Schott & Söhne, but his domestic Finnish audiences and critics were generally unenthusiastic and his opera Juha, today considered one of his major works, was never performed during Merikanto's lifetime. Disappointed with the reactions, starting in the early 1930s, Merikanto gradually abandoned his more radical style and turned towards a more traditional idiom based on Neoclassicism. He also destroyed or mutilated the scores of several works from his earlier style period, some of which were later reconstructed by his last composition student Paavo Heininen.^[3] His work was also part of the music event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics.^[4]

Merikanto was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer 1957, and he died on 28 September the following year, in Helsinki, aged 65.^[1]^[5]

Main works

Juha, opera (1922; premiered in 1963)
Symphony No. 1 in B minor (1916)
Symphony No. 2 in A major (1918)
Symphonic Study (1928)
Symphony No. 3 (1953)
Violin Concerto No. 1 (1915)
Violin Concerto No. 2 (1925)
Violin Concerto No. 3 (1931; destroyed)
Violin Concerto No. 4 (1954)
Piano Concerto No. 1 (1913)
Piano Concerto No. 2 (1937)
Piano Concerto No. 3 (1955)
Cello Concerto No. 1 (1919)
Konzertstück, for cello and chamber orchestra (1923)
Cello Concerto No. 2 (1941)
Lemminkäinen, symphonic poem (1916)
Pan, symphonic poem (1924)
Notturno, symphonic poem (1928)
The Abduction of Kyllikki, symphonic poem (1936)
Schott Concerto, for violin, clarinet, horn, and string sextet (1925)
Nonet (1926)
Fantasia (1923)
Ten Pieces for Orchestra (1930)
Olympic Fanfare (1939)
Song of the City by the Sea, cantata (1949–1950)
Genesis, cantata (1955)

Chronological list of compositions

1911 Helena, 1act opera, soli pno, performed once, then mutilated
1912 Ballade, pno, lost
1912 Lieder Ohne Worte I-II, pno
1912 String Trio, lost
1913 Impromptu b, pno
1913 op. 3 Piano Concerto 1f#
1913 String Quartet c#, unfin, lost
1913 String Quartet g, lost
1914 Concert Ouverture, lost
1914 Serenade, vcl str
1914–16 op. 5 Symphony 1 b
1915 Music for Violin & Piano
1915 op. 8 Theme 5 Variations & Fugue, orch, originally 9 variations
1915 op. 9 Violin Concerto 1 g
1915 Savannah-la-Mar, sop orch
1916 Cavatina, vln pno
1916 Four Pieces, pno
1916 Moderato sentito, vln or vcl +pno
1916 op. 10 Lemminkainen, tone poem
1917 A Dream, tone poem, lost
1917 op. 17 String Quartet e
1917 Piano Trio a
1918 Alla Marcia, Finland's Young Guard, pno or orch
1918 Impression on Jail, vln pno
1918 op. 19 Symphony 2 A, War
1919 Andantino, pno
1919 Illusion, pno
1919 Little Tale, pno
1919 op. 20 Six Pieces, pno
1919 op. 21 Cello Concerto 1 D
1919 Pièces Héroiques, pno 4hnds
1920–22 op. 25 Juha (Aino Ackté), 3act opera
1922 Andantino, vln pno
1922 Autumn Sonnet, sop orch
1922 Echo, sop orch
1923 Fantasy, orch
1924 op. 28 Pan, tone poem
1925 Concerto for vln cl hn strsextet, Schott Concerto
1925 op. 30 Violin Concerto 2
1925 Sketch for piano
1925 Song of the Twilight, pno
1925 Suite, orch
1925 To the Last Living Being, vv
1925–26 Nonet, pno fl c-ang cl 2vln vla vcl db
1926 Konzertstuck, cello small orch
1926 Moderta, vcl pno, lost
1927/31? Partita per orch, (aka Suite 1)
1928 Symphonic Study, mutilated but reconstructed in 1981 by Paavo Heininen
1929 Concert Piece, vln pno, lost
1929 Notturno, poem, orch
1930 Ten Pieces for orch, incl 1927 Partita
1931 Violin Concerto 3, unperformed & burned by cpsr 1955
1932 Four Compositions, orch
1932 String Sextet, mutilated but reconstructed in 1993 by Paavo Heininen
1933 Andante Elegiaco & Canzonetta, vcl pno
1933 Andante Religioso, orch
1933 Prelude & Fugue on a theme of Robert Kajanus, orch, lost
1934 Canzona, str or strqt
1934 Dance Suite, orch
1934 Four Four Folk Dances, orch
1934 Lullaby, orch
1934 Sketch for Little Orchestra, unfin
1934–35 Abduction of Kyllikki, orch
1935 Caressing the Echo, vv
1935 Dance Vision, brass
1935 Melody & Song After Hunting, brass
1935–37 Piano Concerto 2
1936 Finnish Folk Melodies, orch
1936 Intrada, orch
1936 Partita, 2fl ob 2cl bsn hp
1936 Two Finnish Folk Dances, orch
1936 Two Studies: Tranquillo; Cantabile, small orch
1937 Five Ugrian Folk Melodies Suite 1, 5 Vogul & Ostyak melodies
1937 Music to the Play Panu, orch
1937 Scherzo, orch
1938 Five Ugrian Folk Melodies Suite 2, 5 Mordvin Vogul & Ostyak melodies
1938 r43 Ukri, mvv orch
1939 Olympic Fanfare 1, brass
1939 String Quartet a
1940 Three Impressions, orch
1941/43–44 Cello Concerto 2 d
1941 Two Pieces: Andante Cantabile; Allegro Ritmico, orch
1942 Music for Summer Night, orch
1943 Alla Marcia I-II, pno
1943 Arioso, An Ugrian Melody, fl cl str
1943 Preludio, vln pno
1943 The Swing, vv
1943–44 Intermezzo, vln pno
1946 Idiot, vv
1946 Improvisation, 2pno, mutilated & lost
1946 Midsummer, vv
1946 Old Lemminikainen, vv
1946 Silence, vv
1947 Fanfare, 3tpt 4hn 3trb tuba timp, lost
1947 The Laurel of Hellas, Hymn, vv orch
1948 Jubileum Cantata, 70th anniv of the publishing house WSOY, sop ten vv orch
1949–50 Song of the City by the Sea, cantata, sop bar vv orch
1951 Olympic Hymn, vv orch
1952 Andante, pno
1952 Olympic Fanfare 2, brass
1952 Symphony 3
1952 Worlds Meet, film about Olympics in Helsinki, uses olympic music
1953 Gold & Glory, film about Olympics in Helsinki, uses olympic music
1953 Ihalempi, mvv orch
1953 The Jump of Pan, pno
1954 Let this Night be Merry, vv
1954 Violin Concerto 4, Rainbow
1955 Genesis, cantata, sop vv orch
1955 Piano Concerto 3
1955 Piano Concerto 3: Pietà, vln pno
1956 Andante, str
1956 Tuhma, mvv orch

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Merikanto Aarre". Yle Teema (in Finnish). Yleisradio. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
^ "Aarre Fransinpoika Merikanto". geni_family_tree. 29 June 1893. Retrieved 2021-03-08.
^ ^a ^b Salmenhaara, Erkki. "Merikanto, Aarre (1893 - 1958)". Kansallisbiografia (in Finnish). Retrieved 27 September 2016.
^ "Aarre Merikanto". Olympedia. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
^ Heikinheimo, Seppo (1985). Aarre Merikanto. WSOY. pp. 537, see: Diary entry for 28.9.1958 and footnote. ISBN 951-0-13319-1.