Uploaded October 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I. HANNIKAINEN : Piano Concerto in B-Flat Minor, Op. 7 (1917)
Photos: Finland
Ilmari Hannikainen (1892-1955) (Finlande)
Piano Concerto in B flat minor (1917-1920)
Original audio:
Arto Satukangas (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (cond. Petri Sakari)
“Hannikainen composed this in 1917-20 in St. Petersburg while studying with Siloti. The score was left slightly unfinished and was not printed during the composers lifetime. Hannikainen gave the premier with Kajanus in 1920. Then, in 1958 pianist Tapani Valsta and Helsinki Philharmonia (dir. Tauno Hannikainen) recorded it. In 1980 it was performed by pianist Nijole Kasperaviciute with dir. Onni Kelo with two different Finnish orchestras.
Toivo Ilmari Hannikainen (19 October 1892, in Jyväskylä – 25 July 1955, in Kuhmoinen) was a Finnish composer and virtuoso pianist.
Hannikainen was the son of Pekka Juhani Hannikainen and the brother of Väinö Hannikainen, both of whom were composers and of Tauno Hannikainen who was a conductor. After studying at the University of Helsinki (1911–14), he became a pupil of Franz Schreker at the Musikakademie in Vienna, and continued his studies with Alexander Siloti in Saint Petersburg (1915–17) and with Alfred Cortot in Paris (1919). Returning to Finland, he taught piano at the Helsinki Conservatory and later gained a Professorship at the Sibelius Academy.
Hannikainen steered Finnish classical music from late Romanticism towards Impressionism. In addition to his piano miniatures, which best illustrated this development, he composed one opera, one piano concerto, one piano quartet, lieder, and film scores (notably, Sången om den eldröda blomman, Sweden, 1934).
Hannikainen drowned during a sailing trip in Kuhmoinen in 1955. Some musical colleagues, like Aarre Merikanto, considered his death a suicide. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[1]
In the 1970s, the Ilmari Hannikainen Pianokilpailu (Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition) was created dedicated to Hannikainen. In 2020, the competition renewed its format style.[2]
I. HANNIKAINEN : Piano Concerto in B-Flat Minor, Op. 7 (1917)
Photos: Finland
Ilmari Hannikainen (1892-1955) (Finlande)
Piano Concerto in B flat minor (1917-1920)
Original audio:
Arto Satukangas (piano), Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (cond. Petri Sakari)
“Hannikainen composed this in 1917-20 in St. Petersburg while studying with Siloti. The score was left slightly unfinished and was not printed during the composers lifetime. Hannikainen gave the premier with Kajanus in 1920. Then, in 1958 pianist Tapani Valsta and Helsinki Philharmonia (dir. Tauno Hannikainen) recorded it. In 1980 it was performed by pianist Nijole Kasperaviciute with dir. Onni Kelo with two different Finnish orchestras.
Toivo Ilmari Hannikainen (19 October 1892, in Jyväskylä – 25 July 1955, in Kuhmoinen) was a Finnish composer and virtuoso pianist.
Hannikainen was the son of Pekka Juhani Hannikainen and the brother of Väinö Hannikainen, both of whom were composers and of Tauno Hannikainen who was a conductor. After studying at the University of Helsinki (1911–14), he became a pupil of Franz Schreker at the Musikakademie in Vienna, and continued his studies with Alexander Siloti in Saint Petersburg (1915–17) and with Alfred Cortot in Paris (1919). Returning to Finland, he taught piano at the Helsinki Conservatory and later gained a Professorship at the Sibelius Academy.
Hannikainen steered Finnish classical music from late Romanticism towards Impressionism. In addition to his piano miniatures, which best illustrated this development, he composed one opera, one piano concerto, one piano quartet, lieder, and film scores (notably, Sången om den eldröda blomman, Sweden, 1934).
Hannikainen drowned during a sailing trip in Kuhmoinen in 1955. Some musical colleagues, like Aarre Merikanto, considered his death a suicide. He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.[1]
In the 1970s, the Ilmari Hannikainen Pianokilpailu (Ilmari Hannikainen Piano Competition) was created dedicated to Hannikainen. In 2020, the competition renewed its format style.[2]
