Mirjamin laulu I Op.4, No.3 (1899)

Mirjamin laulu II Op.4 No.4 (1899)

A great Finnish song composer, Sibelius was not a great composer of Finnish song. Of all his songs, not far short of ninety are in Swedish, which was his first language, and only a handful are in Finnish. So, while he dominated most of areas of Finnish music in the early years of the twentieth century, it was his younger contemporaries - not least his pupils Toivo Kuula and Leevi Madetoja - who were responsible for the early development of the Finnish song repertoire. Like Madetoja, Kuula was a native of Ostrobothnia and a keen collector of the folk song of that province, which inevitably had a profound influence on his style as a composer. That is clear enough from Aamulaulu, one of the earliest of his many settings of words by the Finnish national poet Eino Leino: apart from the change of harmony and melodic material in the second of the three stanzas, it could almost be a folk song. Another Leino setting from the same set, Syystunnelma is a more sophisticated composition in both its emotively coloured piano part and its liberated construction.

The two Mirjamin songs, both to words by Leino, were originally written for the stage and in such a way that an actor could sing them - which explains why, technically, they are among the least ambitious of Melartin’s 300 or so songs. They are no less attractive for that.

written for a play Meiram - folk-like idiom, written for actors to sing

a pianist - though these songs probably do not have the complex accompaniment of some others.

symphonist - wrote six? at same time as Sibelius without being influenced by him (1901 -1936)

both songs from Nuorten lauluja (Songs of Youth) Op.4 (1899)

more E. Leino settings - debt to Finnish folksong

300 odd songs

Leino: then with the harpist Aino Inez Kajanus (1913-1920), who was the daughter of the conductor Robert Kajanus,

Leino was the most important developer of Finnish-language poetry at the turn of the 20th century, and now probably Finland's most cited poet.

Folk influenced.