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Music research

Let’s play GAMEM – Research project explores the significance of game music in everyday life
Features

Let’s play GAMEM – Research project explores the significance of game music in everyday life

Let’s play GAMEM – Research project explores the significance of game music in everyday life

Game Music Everyday Memories, or GAMEM, is a research project undertaken at the University of Jyväskylä in 2020-2022. Funded by the Kone Foundation, the project examined people’s fondest and most lasting game music memories from a range of different perspectives, and the effect of these memories in their everyday life. The research results indicate that the impact of game music is significant.

Elina Lajunen

June 15, 2023

Jean Sibelius Works uses archival research to probe the creative process
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Jean Sibelius Works uses archival research to probe the creative process

Jean Sibelius Works uses archival research to probe the creative process

Jean Sibelius Works is compiling a critical edition of the complete works of Sibelius, based on a variety of archival sources. The study is building a fascinating picture of the composer’s creative process while also challenging the traditional notion of what is a ‘work’.

Lasse Lehtonen

March 31, 2022

Heikki Uimonen - Attuned to sounds
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Heikki Uimonen - Attuned to sounds

Heikki Uimonen - Attuned to sounds

Heikki Uimonen does not have a favourite sound. As an ethnomusicologist and a sound scholar, he is interested in all sounds. The more disturbing the better.

Anu Jormalainen

March 31, 2022

Who’s afraid of the musicologist? – An overview of a discipline
Columns

Who’s afraid of the musicologist? – An overview of a discipline

Who’s afraid of the musicologist? – An overview of a discipline

"Let us accept as a starting point that one can be a musicologist if one has been trained as a musician and as a scholar. Failing to meet either of these two criteria removes the foundation from talking about music," writes musicologist, Professor Eero Tarasti in his FMQ column.

Eero Tarasti

March 31, 2022

Music-making among people, machines and nature – The potential of critical post-humanism in music studies
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Music-making among people, machines and nature – The potential of critical post-humanism in music studies

Music-making among people, machines and nature – The potential of critical post-humanism in music studies

"As the climate crisis accelerates and other societal threats emerge, musicologists can, whatever their speciality, join in demonstrating that the close co-existence of humans with each other and with non-human creatures and things is a feature not only of non-Western worldviews and musical cultures as explored and shown by ethnomusicologists but of Western cultures too," writes Milla Tiainen, PhD and current Chair of the Finnish Musicological Society.

Milla Tiainen

March 31, 2022

A question of hats – Artistic research at the Sibelius Academy focuses on musician-based knowledge
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A question of hats – Artistic research at the Sibelius Academy focuses on musician-based knowledge

A question of hats – Artistic research at the Sibelius Academy focuses on musician-based knowledge

Doctors of Music have been graduating from the Sibelius Academy over 30 years. The spectrum of research undertaken at the academy is broad, but its principal strength is in artistic competence, which helps open up new research prospects. Now that the value of the artist's knowhow for research is better understood, investment in post-doctoral research is growing.

Riikka Hiltunen

March 31, 2022

As the canon turns – reflections on the centenary of Joonas Kokkonen
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As the canon turns – reflections on the centenary of Joonas Kokkonen

As the canon turns – reflections on the centenary of Joonas Kokkonen

Joonas Kokkonen began his life in a small town in the 1920s and went on to become one of Finland’s most celebrated and internationally most successful composers. Today, his music is rarely performed in concert.

Pekka Hako

November 4, 2021

Paying the piper, part 2
Features

Paying the piper, part 2

Paying the piper, part 2

For an artist, art is a means of making a living. But what are the revenue streams of musicians, composers and music makers these days, and how are they distributed among various artists and groups? What are the prospects of continuing to make a living in music in the post-pandemic future?

Merja Hottinen

September 30, 2021

A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 2: Agnes Tschetschulin
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A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 2: Agnes Tschetschulin

A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 2: Agnes Tschetschulin

A pioneer of Finnish violin repertoire and a virtuoso of the school of Joseph Joachim – handsome epithets that apply to composer and violinist Agnes Tschetschulin (1859–1942). She was the first star student of the Helsinki Music Institute (now the Sibelius Academy) and went on to create a prominent international career.

Susanna Välimäki

May 2, 2019

A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 1: Activists strive for gender equality
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A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 1: Activists strive for gender equality

A celebration of historical Finnish women who wrote music, Part 1: Activists strive for gender equality

The history of Finnish music is unexpectedly rich in women who have written music. Nearly three dozen interesting personalities may be found in the 19th and early 20th centuries alone. The present series of articles discusses the lives and music of these women – an excellent opportunity for the reader to learn more about this largely unexplored group of Finnish classical composers. This first article serves as an introduction and also showcases a concert series given by violinist Mirka Malmi to give voice to this forgotten music.

Susanna Välimäki

February 8, 2019

Western musical diplomacy in Finland during the Cold War, Part 3: Experimental music arrives in Finland
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Western musical diplomacy in Finland during the Cold War, Part 3: Experimental music arrives in Finland

Western musical diplomacy in Finland during the Cold War, Part 3: Experimental music arrives in Finland

The cultural cold war between the superpowers that began after the Second World War played a major role in shaping the international arts and culture scene as we know it today. This series of articles discusses the impacts of cultural diplomacy, particularly that of the USA, on Finnish music from the days of the Cold War to the present. This third part examines how American avant-garde came to Finland in the 1960s and what impacts it had.

Tanja Tiekso

January 21, 2019

Glass Jukebox - Trends of fairness and transparency and the Finnish music industries
Columns

Glass Jukebox - Trends of fairness and transparency and the Finnish music industries

Glass Jukebox - Trends of fairness and transparency and the Finnish music industries

Juho Kaitajärvi-Tiekso discusses power relations, fairness and the role of copyright in the world of music streaming services.

Juho Kaitajärvi-Tiekso

October 19, 2018

There is Power in the Union - Music in the Finnish American immigrant community
Features

There is Power in the Union - Music in the Finnish American immigrant community

There is Power in the Union - Music in the Finnish American immigrant community

The recent immigration wave into Europe has proved that where there is no common language, music and art can provide an important communication avenue between immigrants and locals. Through art, immigrants are able to express their own culture but also to give a voice even to their most harrowing experiences. Likewise, music played a pivotal role for Finnish immigrants in America in the turn of the 20th century. It enabled them to maintain their Finnish identity in the new environment and to integrate into American society.

Saijaleena Rantanen

September 6, 2018

Western musical diplomacy in Finland during the Cold War, Part 2: The complexities of cultural diplomacy
Features

Western musical diplomacy in Finland during the Cold War, Part 2: The complexities of cultural diplomacy

Western musical diplomacy in Finland during the Cold War, Part 2: The complexities of cultural diplomacy

The cultural cold war between the superpowers that began after the Second World War played a major role in shaping the international arts and culture scene as we know it today. This series of articles discusses the impacts of cultural diplomacy, particularly that of the USA, on Finnish music from the days of the Cold War to the present. The second part focuses on the complex and diverse network of cultural diplomacy efforts aimed at Finland by the USA in the 1950s.

Tanja Tiekso

August 31, 2018

Probing the core of Magnus Lindberg’s orchestral oeuvre
Features

Probing the core of Magnus Lindberg’s orchestral oeuvre

Probing the core of Magnus Lindberg’s orchestral oeuvre

Takemi Sosa completed a doctoral dissertation on the orchestral works of Magnus Lindberg at the University of Helsinki, uncovering the Aristotelian dramatic arc governing their structure. This is the first doctoral dissertation on Lindberg’s music completed in Europe.

Lasse Lehtonen

August 16, 2018

Science, arts and in between
Features

Science, arts and in between

Science, arts and in between

In Finland, doctoral studies in music are available at university musicology departments and at the Uniarts Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy which has two doctoral programs with a range of artistic and academic approaches. Both doctoral schools, DocMus for classical music and MuTri for music education, jazz and folk music, offer three streams: artistic study, research study culminating in a traditional dissertation, and applied study with either an artistic or academic focus.

Riikka Hiltunen

June 1, 2018

Future of musicology cause for concern at Finnish universities
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Future of musicology cause for concern at Finnish universities

Future of musicology cause for concern at Finnish universities

Musicology must engage in closer cooperation with other disciplines and find focus areas for profiling; that might be a summary of the demands currently being placed on tuition in this subject. There are positive experiences of cooperation with other disciplines at universities, but the future of the discipline is a shared source of concern all around Finland.

Lasse Lehtonen

June 1, 2018

Studies, principal goals and key figures at the Sibelius Academy in 2018
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Studies, principal goals and key figures at the Sibelius Academy in 2018

Studies, principal goals and key figures at the Sibelius Academy in 2018

In the following, Dean Kaarlo Hildén explains the current focus areas at the Sibelius Academy. We also supply some indicators and a schematic of the modules offered by highest-level music education institution in Finland.

Anu Ahola

June 1, 2018

Slicing and dicing the streaming revenue cake
Columns

Slicing and dicing the streaming revenue cake

Slicing and dicing the streaming revenue cake

As streaming revenues and their significance have increased, the fairness of the distribution system has become a topic for global debate within the music industry. Consumers have an important role in this discussion as the distribution method may have a crucial impact in increasing the amount of shareable money for all parties. A study performed in Finland was based on Spotify’s streaming data, which was used to compare pro rata and user centric distribution models.

Jari Muikku

March 9, 2018

Taking Note Autumn 2016: Naturally good music
Columns

Taking Note Autumn 2016: Naturally good music

Taking Note Autumn 2016: Naturally good music

“Music’s close relationship to nature can be seen precisely in the ways it alters and affects our relationship to the diversity of our surrounding world – and not only to itself or myself.”

Juha Torvinen

October 7, 2016

Music in our nature
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Music in our nature

Music in our nature

Music is known to have a physical and psychological – and not just aesthetic and emotional – effect on us. But why is this so? This is one of the key questions in genetic and brain research on music.

Hanna Isolammi

October 7, 2016

Music research in Finland looks east
Features

Music research in Finland looks east

Music research in Finland looks east

In the academic world, Finland boasts a high level of expertise in all things Russian. Over the past decade, musicologists too have begun to show an increasing interest in our eastern neighbour and above all in its history.

Anu Ahola

June 4, 2016

Democracy in the music education of the future
Features

Democracy in the music education of the future

Democracy in the music education of the future

What does democratic education look like from the perspective of music? In October 2015, the ArtsEqual research initiative was launched to survey equality in various branches of the arts. At its centre is Resonaari, a music institute leading by example to show what potential musicianship may be found in the margins of society.

Tuulikki Laes

May 4, 2016

SUMU project / How does society sound in music?
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SUMU project / How does society sound in music?

SUMU project / How does society sound in music?

What is music with a social message? A project examining Finnish art music of the present millennium and addressing the ability of music to comment on society is revealing various aspects of human existence, from the individual to the community and from the environment to supragenerics.

Sini Mononen

January 4, 2014

From sonic environment to psychoanalysis
Features

From sonic environment to psychoanalysis

From sonic environment to psychoanalysis

The doctoral dissertations in music submitted in Finland in 2005-2006 are marked by two features: the topics are heterogeneous and the approach is multidisciplinary, ranging from the sonic environment and the music-making software of video games right across to Sibelius.

Liisamaija Hautsalo

January 3, 2007

Pioneers and Explorers – Electronic Music in Finland 1958–1998
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Pioneers and Explorers – Electronic Music in Finland 1958–1998

Pioneers and Explorers – Electronic Music in Finland 1958–1998

The history of electronic music in general is yet a short one, and affords an interesting angle on the passing of time. Experiments made 40 or 50 years ago may seem to us rather primitive now, but how will the high technology of today look to those working in this field fifty years from now?

Jukka Ruohomäki

January 8, 1985

Seeking the shape of music
Features

Seeking the shape of music

Seeking the shape of music

"Although music analysis research, measured as a percentage of Finnish musicological studies, may have declined in the past decades due to changes in paedagogics, performing arts and culture, it has also become more diverse and attained a very high level of quality, to the point of being at the cutting edge."

Jarkko Hartikainen

January 8, 1985