Erik Bergman

Violinist Maria Puusaari writes to the FMQ readers about music that is significant for her, and about the role of music in her life during important turning points and times of crisis.

Ida Moberg (1859–1947) wished to command ensembles that produced a large sound while also touching human emotions: Most of her output is for orchestra or choir or both. The topics of her works largely has to do with individual’s spiritual metamorphosis.

Erik Bergman (1911–2006) was a pioneer in modern composition techniques in Finland. He was awarded practically every Finnish recognition and prize that it is possible for a creative artist to receive. It is a little-known fact that for his first studies abroad he went to Nazi Germany.

The Helsinki Chamber Choir is one of the best in its kind in the world these days.

The aesthetic pluralism represented here is remarkable; Bergman pushes the envelope of musical expression. Matti Hyökki, with a group of professional singers, masters even the trickiest passages with aplomb.

The north is a regular theme in Finnish music. But it is also more. It is the main myth of the region’s inhabitants, an undertone that determines their thoughts and way of life. That is why the north can be heard in Finnish music even when it is not explicitly the theme.

One afternoon in March 1997, while the eyes of the world were trained on the official residence of the Finnish President where Presidents Clinton and Yeltsin were engaged in dialogue, pianist Liisa Pohjola and composer Usko Meriläinen were ensconced in a Helsinki restaurant only a mile away for a cosy chat about music and performance.

In his article from 1987 Markku Kilpiö takes a look at Finnish choral singing.

Erik Bergman spent nearly half of his life travelling and visited almost every corner of the globe. Although he was a true cosmopolitan and exoticist, he managed to maintain a recognisable and personal musical style in all his compositions. For Bergman, foreign cultures were objects to identify with rather than mere reservoirs for musical ideas.

Guitarists are unusually keen to commission new compositions. The guitarist, composer and audience all benefit, because the guitar, being a popular instrument, lowers the threshold to listening to new music. Finnish guitarists Petri Kumela, Otto Tolonen and Patrik Kleemola rank among the most active champions of new guitar repertoire.

I am approaching the age when you begin to reflect on the fundamentals of life and feel the need to pare away all inessentials. For that reason my opus 110, The Singing Tree, my first opera, is a work I have taken particular pains to shape as clearly and distinctly as possible so that every note in the score can be grasped...