On the subject of competitions, opinions are highly divided amongst the music fraternity, competitions are seen as furthering the careers of those who do well in...

In this article Einojuhani Rautavaara describes the background to his opera Thomas, and explains certain technical aspects of the opera's musical structure. Thomas had its first...

"In a small culture like Finland's, the presence of a sovereign master of his field like Sibelius is bound to have a very deep significance. At...

It is often claimed that computer music is so technical and 'cold' that it has nothing whatsoever to do with live music-making. Kaija Saariaho is a...

The main theme of the first ever FMQ magazine in 1985 was the Kalevala. In the issue composers and researchers like Pekka Lounela, Eero Tarasti, Erkki...

Musicologist and composer Erkki Salmenhaara provides an introduction to the work of the Franco-Russo-Karelian cosmopolitan who was Uuno Klami.

“One of the greatest problems confronting Finnish culture is the relative absence of critical attitudes with any measure of influence,” says the composer Olli Kortekangas in...

Elias Lönnrot's Kalevala was part of a return to mythology, a desire to discover the roots of the nation's culture and history that prevailed in all...

Runes were sung by people of all ages: children and adults, old and young, men and women. They were sung on all sorts of occasions: on...