music for children

Formed at the Sibelius Academy ten years ago, Mutaveijarit (Mud Rascals) has nurtured a deep-seated love for children’s music. With their versatile approach to music and commitment to professionalism, they’ve captivated audiences and cooked the finest mud soups with audiences in different ages. The band celebrates their 10th anniversary in 2024.

The first Moomin book Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen (The Moomins and the Great Flood) was published 75 years ago. To mark the anniversary, FMQ gives an overview of music that has been composed over the years based on and inspired by Moomin stories.

In a book entitled Mielen maisemat ja musiikki (Landscapes of the Mind and Music) Kari Kurkela addresses the problems encountered by the child in learning to play a musical instrument in the light of psychoanalysis and mythology. Lively interaction between training in sensitivity and the constructive channelling of aggression is, he claims, important: so important in fact that without these elements of creativity the child's playing will be reduced to little more than "potty training".

Operas and other stage works to be performed by and for children have been written in Finland since the 1940s. A new boom began in the 1980s and is still going strong.

Children’s music underwent a huge transition in Finland in the 1960s and 1970s. Composer Pekka Jalkanen witnessed and contributed to this development. In this article from 2011 he discusses the history of Finnish children's music.

Georg Malmstén was a man of many musical talents, and one of the most popular of his kind. While the Finnish recording industry was still only just in its infancy, Malmstén made the first children’s record with Finnish lyrics and orchestral accompaniment and in doing so paved the way for the popular Finnish children’s song as we know it today.

New children's music has been a popular topic in Finland since the early 2000's. Following the success of Ipanapa and Ella ja Aleksi, even major record labels have taken a newfound interest in children's music.